Just Marinette
by Melllama
Summary: Marinette isn't Ladybug. It's somebody else who's loved by everyone and gets to save Paris time after time with Chat Noir. Marinette is just a normal girl, who likes designing in her room and is very unsure of herself and her capabilities. Running into Chat Noir in a dark alleyway might cause a chain of events, though. COMPLETED
1. Chapter 1

Marinette woke up with her face pressed against a wooden desk. All around her were drawings and designs. The one she had worked on the day earlier - well, a few hours earlier - had fallen on the floor. Marinette yawned and lifted it up. The paper had many doodles in the corners and the essential design at the middle.

A young lady was wearing a red dress to the knees and carrying a round, black handbag. Marinette had given her a mask just to make sure everyone would realize it was supposed to be Ladybug. Marinette didn't feel like the mask was subtle enough, but didn't want to end up drawing a completely random person who _sort of_ reminds people of Ladybug.

Marinette sat up and looked at the clock on the wall. _I'm gonna be late!_ Marinette quickly got changed, put on her black earrings and ran down the stairs. She grabbed a muffin on her way out of her family's bakery.

"Au revoir!" She hoped her parents had heard her and sprinted towards the school.

 _o - o - o - o - o_

Marinette ran through her class's door and was happy to see that the teacher hadn't arrived yet. But so hadn't her best friend Alya, and therefore she took her seat feeling odd. Alya was never late and Marinette never had to sit alone. She took out her notebook and began to draw various shapes.

"Hey, Marinette."

She startled as she heard the voice behind her back. She was supposed to be used to it, as it was normal of Adrien to greet her. Yet, she could never bring herself to act natural.

"H-h-howdy, Adrien! What's cookin'?" Marinette was frustrated with herself but didn't know whether she should try to correct herself, or if she would only make things worse.

Adrien smiled at her. _He is so polite,_ Marinette admired Adrien's skill of being able to be nice to an idiot like her. "Probably nothing, I don't see any food."

Alya walked in Mrs. Mardi right behind her. Marinette felt glad Alya made it.

The wavy haired girl sat down next to Marinette with her phone on her hand. The teacher started talking and so did Alya.

"Girl, I've been so caught up with writing for the blog that I was almost late!" She said and flipped the phone so Marinette could see the familiar site. Ladyblog.

"And I've been so caught up with designing for the blog that _I_ was almost late," Marinette laughed. She really liked how her friend was always cheerful.

"Right! How's that turning out? Am I gonna be able to publish it soon?

It had become a fairly regular thing for Marinette to design what-if costumes for the heroes of Paris when there wasn't much for Alya to report on. Marinette wasn't as keen on their lives as Alya but still enjoyed making outfits for them. Not that they would ever wear them.

This time she was making date outfits for Ladybug and Chat Noir. She hadn't quite figured out what she wanted to do with Chat's just yet.

"I'm only finished with the design for Ladybug, so it'll take a while," Marinette glanced at blackboard and wrote down some notes. "But I'm guessing there isn't much of a hurry if you have a lot of other stuff to write about right now?"

"Well actually I only had the akuma attack of yesterday, the first one in a few weeks. But take your time, honey," Alya smiled.

Marinette felt a little guilty. She didn't want Alya to have to keep waiting to have things to report on. She had ended up working on it all night, but it wasn't enough. She needed to do more.

"God! Can you guys like, be quiet?" Marinette heard a high-pitched complaint.

Chloe's blue eyes glared at the two girls. Marinette didn't like her approach, but knew it wasn't right to talk during lessons.

"I'm sorry, Chloe. We'll stop talking now," Marinette said and turned back to her paper.

"Uhh, well you should be! It's not like you ever have anything important to say anyway."

Marinette didn't say anything and looked at Alya trying to tell her not to respond either.

"I'm the daughter of the mayor, you're just a nobody. I recommend you never speak again, as people will only

Alya and Adrien opened their mouths but Marinette was faster.

"I literally apologized. You don't have to make everything into a fight, Chloe. You should try being nice to people for a change," Marinette said.

"And where has that gotten you, Dupain-Cheng?" Chloe asked. "Nowhere. Absolutely nowhere," She answered to her own question and turned away from Marinette with a mean-spirited grin of her face.

"That little..." Alya kept staring at Chloe's back. Marinette just let it go and acted as if she didn't care. She did.

 _o - o - o - o - o_

To be honest, it was hard to imagine Chat Noir in a date outfit. Marinette knew he flirted a lot with Ladybug, but for her information they didn't go on dates. Who knows, maybe they did. With Ladybug's outfit it was a bit easier, as Marinette was very familiar with women's clothing and could just adjust that to be Ladybug themed.

But what did guys even wear on dates? What did Chat Noir wear on a date? Marinette's thoughts shifted to Adrien, and how he would look like on a date. _Cute, as always._

She could never ask him out. She couldn't even say hi. Marinette buried her face in her hands. There she was, designing outfits for superheroes, and she was still such a loser. She wasn't like Chat Noir, she wasn't like Ladybug. How did Ladybug save people's lives when Marinette couldn't even talk to her crush? Or be useful to her best friend? Or stop getting picked on?

She did stand up for Chloe, but nothing ever came out of it. Nothing changed. She would have to keep standing up for herself over and over again. When really, what Chloe said was right. _I am a nobody. All I do is draw in my room and bake._

Marinette couldn't focus on designing anymore. She chose to lie down on her bed and sulk. _Why can't I be more like Ladybug?_


	2. Chapter 2

_Pull yourself together, Marinette!_ Marinette slapped her face lightly. She stood up, walked downstairs and grabbed her jacket.

Marinette opened the Ladyblog to check where Chat Noir is usually seen patrolling. Alya had made a small map of the places Chat had been noticed in, and the places he had visited more than once were marked with a paw. That was Marinette's idea.

Marinette eyed the map and one place stood out. A park near her house. Marinette liked that park, in a crowded place such as Paris, the park was very quiet. Marinette went there to draw in the summer a lot.

Marinette knew it would be insane to think Chat Noir would just happen to be at the park. Marinette didn't consider herself to be a very lucky person and the park wasn't even marked with a paw. Still, it would be a nice environment to draw in, with or without Chat.

 _o - o - o - o - o_

The park wasn't as close to her house as Marinette had remembered. She enjoyed walking, so it wasn't that bad. It was the afternoon and the cool autumn air was pleasant.

Marinette turned to a narrow sidewalk because she thought it to be a shortcut. She stopped when she saw a dark silhouette in the shadows of the apartments next to her.

Marinette walked backwards. It didn't feel like a good idea to be with a stranger in a small space with no people around. Especially when she couldn't even see who the person was.

A trashcan hit Marinette's back and Marinette fell to the ground out of surprise taking the traschcan down with her. There was a small crash sound and Marinette cursed silently. The dark person turned their face to her and Marinette thought that maybe she could throw something in their eye. But she saw a tail.

"Chat?"

"Hi?" A surprised voice asked.

Marinette laughed. Of course the hero of Paris would see her with her foot in a trashcan. He walked towards Marinette and pulled the trashcan away;

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," She took his hand and stood up. "Thank you. Sorry I'm such a klutz."

Marinette was ready to let go of Chat's hand but he suddenly leaned down and gave it a kiss. _What?_

The superhero flashed a smile. "May I ask for the name of this klutz?"

Marinette's eyes widened. _Right, we don't know each other._ "I'm Marinette."

Chat lifted a tissue from Marinette's head. "I think I'll call you Princess."

"And I'll call you _Flirt_ ," Marinette crossed her arms. Chat's mouth opened in surprise and he touched his cat ears sheepishly.

"My heart belongs to Ladybug only. But I still think you're a princess," Chat said. "So, what is royalty doing here, if I may ask?"

Marinette hadn't realized that Chat Noir would be fun to talk to. "I'm actually on my way to a park nearby. _Le Parc du Poisson_ ," Marinette told him. She didn't mention that she had hoped to see Chat there.

Marinette saw the boy's eyes narrow in the dark. Marinette was leaning on a brick wall and Chat was standing before her. She noticed how close they were. But it would be unnatural to try to change position now, so she just went along with it.

"Very cute, but I believe the park in question is that way," Chat pointed to the direction that Marinette had come from.

Marinette felt her cheeks get a bit red. "Oh. I guess I'll be going that way then," she said. "I have been to the park before, I guess I was just lost in my thoughts or something. I'm not always like this," Marinette muttered in embarrassment. _I'm supposed to know the streets of Paris!_ What a great first impression she had given of herself.

"Don't worry, Princess. I get lost sometimes, too," Chat took a step back and walked away. "Let me just say goodbye to my friend and we can go."

 _A friend?_ Marinette looked over to where Chat was going and saw a black cat. A _real_ black cat.

"So this is why you were here," Marinette pet the cat. Its fur was soft.

"I stopped patrolling when I saw it. Glaldy it didn't leave and I had the time to go get some food for it," Chat said. There was a can next to the animal.

Marinette looked the cat in his green eyes and smiled. _I guess I see Alya's obsession with him,_ she thought.


	3. Chapter 3

"So... you really came with me," Marinette said without making eye contact. She was looking at the two pigeons close to them. They reminded her of Adrien and his allergies. When she was little she used to run towards pigeons to see their reaction, but these days she just let them be.

They were sitting in the shadow of a wide tree. The park was the same as always. No people around and a bench that was uncomfortable to sit in. That's why she usually sat on the ground, but this time she didn't want to seem weird and had just taken a seat next to Chat.

"You didn't want me to?" Chat asked. Marinette didn't know if he was just playing.

"No! I mean, yes! I did want you to." _Drop the awkwardness, Mari! You're not even around Adrien, don't act like an idiot._ Chat smiled, but Marinette still wasn't sure if he had actually been worried his presence wasn't wanted. Because why would someone as confident as him be unsure?

"Actually, there was something I needed your help with," Marinette pulled her design book from a pink bag.

Chat leaned over and seemed curious about Marinette's drawings, but didn't say a word. He turned away from the design book and sneezed.

"Bless you. So, I like designing clothes and sometimes I give designs of you and Ladybug to the Ladyblog," Marinette said as she opened the page where she had put the paper containing the date outfit. _Wait. What if he's seen them?_ Marinette concluded that giving away her anonymity was the worst idea ever. _Oh God, the designs have so many mistakes, too. He probably hates them, and he's gonna hate me aswell and -_

"Those are by you?" Chat's eyes lit up.

"Yes," Marinette said with a small voice. Her cheeks were as red as cherries and she was ready to hear some sort of sound of disapproval. Chat Noir wouldn't mock her openly, though.

"They're always so cool! I love the one where we're secret agents," Chat grabbed Marinette's hands and that got her to lift her head up. "You're so skilled!"

Marinette was left staring at Chat with her jaw dropped. "T-thank you."

Chat let out a small laugh. "You look like you've never been given a compliment." His smile disappeared.

"I do get compliments," Marinette said. Chat wasn't holding her hands anymore, but they were still looking at each other. Chat's eyes were a really nice shade of green. "But it's different from friends and family. I'm not used to getting feedback from strangers."

Marinette didn't have the confidence to show her work to the world. She didn't feel like she was good enough. She didn't even want to read the comments on Ladyblog.

"Well, I'll take it as my job to drown you in compliments from now on," Chat smiled. "Also, you only see me as a stranger? Such claws!"

Marinette chuckled. "Ok, I'll promote you to an acquaintance."

Chat pulled an upset look on his face. "So rude! This is simply unacceptable. I am banning all catnip from you for a week, princess."

"Oh no, anything but catnip! I'll cry," Marinette pouted.

They both cracked and couldn't hold back the laughter. Marinette stayed in the moment just a little bit longer and took a breath before saying;

"So, the thing I needed help with..."

"Oh! Right!" Chat looked like he had snapped out of something and then he focused on Marinette, as if he was waiting for intructions.

Marinette showed Ladyblog's design and explained the situation with the outfits. She wanted to hear what Chat usually wore on dates.

"Dates! Yeah, I go to a looooot of dates, yep!" Chat suddenly seemed super interested in a random bird flying in the sky and scratched his head. "A _lot_."

Marinette was confused by Chat's reaction. He didn't seem to be very truthful right now.

"Could it be you don't go on a lot of dates?" Marinette asked carefully.

"What? Of course I do. Especially with Ladybug, we're super close, eh..." He looked to the ground and played with the golden bell of his suit.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Marinette suggested with an understanding expression.

"No," He replied. "Sorry I'm not much help. I know you might think I'm a flirt, but I'm not exactly the greatest Casanova."

"It's ok, kitty," Marinette smiled at Chat. "I'll figure it out."

Marinette didn't feel like forcing Chat toimagine his date outfit, as he didn't seem to like his love life being brought up. But Marinette did feel like she had a stronger grasp of Chat's personality after talking to him, and she wasn't feeling hopeless anymore. She grabbed her pencil and started sketching.

Marinette had told Chat he could leave if he wanted to, but he said he wanted to watch her work. So they sat there together for a while. Marinette enjoyed the company. At one point Chat was being a bit annoying, poking Marinette in the cheek.

"Sorry, you just looked really concentrated. Couldn't help it. I'll stop _bugging_ you now. Because after all, I'm Chat Noir and not Ladybug. Haha. Get it?"

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _Two Marichat-dialogue chapters in a row? I should probably do something different. Oh well, I really enjoy writing their interactions._**

 ** _I find myself always wanting to just write short dialogue without enough description to anything. Well, I'm trying to improve. This chapter I tried to describe the situation and their feelings and stuff more._**

 ** _Hope you liked it and thanks for your support!_**


	4. Chapter 4

Marinette was tying her shoe laces outside the school building. They would have gym class outdoors today, as they always had if the weather allowed it. It had been raining earlier, but for the teacher's joy the rain had stopped right before the class started. Marinette wasn't all too pleased.

"Come on Mari, it wouldn't feel so bad if you exercised regularly," Alya said while making herself a messy bun on top of her head. Marinette had always admired Alya's hair and what she could do with it. Alya had once braided Marinette's hair in a really pretty way. Marinette herself didn't know how to do anything but her regular pigtails.

"You know I don't like sports. I'm more of an artistic person," Marinette declared. That was the excuse she always used.

"Well I'm more of a writer, but I still take care of my physical health," Alya smiled teasingly. She was right and Marinette knew it.

"Ok, I admit it, I'm a couch potato," Marinette laughed. They had to go on a jog, but they were allowed to do it independently as long as they were back by five. Marinette and Alya always went together. They usually liked to go on a path in the forest that not many other people used.

"Don't worry, I love you the way you are. And you also make me look better in comparison," Alya laughed aswell. She then sat down and did a split with ease.

"Wow! You've really made an effort, Alya," Marinette was proud of her friend, who had been wanting to get flexible since last winter.

"One day I'm definitely going to be as good as Ladybug," she said with an ambitious smile on her face.

Marinette knew how much Alya idolized Ladybug. Yes, it was sometimes annoying how much Alya talked about her, but Marinette did really like to see her friend's eyes light up whenever someone mentioned the hero.

Ladybug was also a very good impact on Alya. Like how Alya could work on her writing skills through the blog, and how Alya always aspired to better. _It must be nice to inspire others like that,_ Marinette thought.

Alya stood up. "Let me just fill my water bottle and we can go."

 _o - o - o - o - o_

Marinette really hated jogging. She always forgot how much she hated it, but the pain was there everytime she ran. Her body felt like crap and she wished to be more athletic. Of course, she never did anything to fulfill these wishes. All she did was whine in her mind and then whine more about whining.

"We're almost back at the school," Alya said. Marinette didn't think anyone found jogging fun, but Alya at least looked like she was holding herself together better than Marinette.

Marinette didn't say anything back. She was too focused on her breathing. And getting her feet to keep moving.

"You know we can walk," Alya suggested.

Marinette shook her head. Walking would feel like giving up, and Marinette didn't want to do that. She wanted to give her all. Even if she was a hypocrite for thinking that way without working out.

As they kept running they heard loud talking. Marinette recognized familiar characters standing on the side of the path. Chloe, Sabrina and Alix. _What are they doing together?_ Alix was sitting on the ground.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Marinette said. They ran towards the three girls. Marinette didn't want to immediately assume the worst, but there's no way the three of them would have been jogging together.

" - and you can tell the teacher, it's not like anyone will believe you! We'll just say you fell or something," Chloe said with Sabrina behind her.

Now that Marinette and Alya were closer, they could really see the situation for what it was. Alix was sitting in a dirty puddle the rain had left behind. Her green sneakers had been thrown away from her and torn up.

"What do you guys think you're doing!?" Alya said with anger. She immediately stepped between Chloe and Alix.

Marinette picked the shoes off the ground and handed them to Alix. _I can't believe Chloe._

"I used all my saved up money to buy those," Alix muttered. "Thanks," she said and stood up taking Marinette's hand.

"None of your business, Miss Nosy," Chloe spat at Alya and rolled her eyes.

"What happened?" Marinette asked Alix and glared at Chloe. Alix was now leaning on Alya as Marinette took dirt off her back.

"They pushed me down and kicked me. I think my leg - " Alix started but was cut off by Chloe.

"Well only because she wasn't willing to admit that I'm right. That her shoes look like trash. Really, it was her own fault," Chloe said and kept her chin up. Marinette knew Chloe was the biggest brat she had ever met.

"Shut up. I was talking to Alix," Marinette said. "Is your leg okay?"

"I don't think it's broken, but it hurts. I feel like I have to wait a moment before I can walk to the school." Marinette liked how her pink-haired friend was always honest.

"Nonsense, I'll carry you," Alya said. Marinette helped Alix get on Alya's back.

"Chloe and Sabrina, don't think we'll let you get off the hook," Marinette felt the anger inside her unravel. "You can't just treat people like dirt!"

"It's not like you can prove anything. I am the daughter of the mayor, after all." Chloe simply laughed at Marinette.

They argued the whole way back. Marinette knew arguing wouldn't help, but she really wanted to hammer some sense into Chloe's big head.

Apparently Chloe and Sabrina had spent their lesson sitting in the place where they bullied Alix. Probably on their phones or something. It made sense. Marinette knew Alix was the fastest runner in their class, and she had run past Alya and Marinette.

Once they got back to the school building, they immediately went to tell the PE teacher. But Chloe had been right, and the teacher totally bought her explanation of Alix simply falling. Marinette knew the teacher was scared of getting fired if she would go against Chloe.

After they got Alix safely in her parents' car, Marinette and Alya tried to talk to other teachers aswell. Nobody was willing to do anything.

"I hate this," Marinette muttered as she grabbed her jacket.

"Me too, girl. Me too," Alya said.

Chloe had been following them around to make sure "her side of the story" would be heard. "I have a suggestion."

Marinette turned to look at Chloe. She knew Chloe probably had an idea she would not like, but she still asked:

"What?"

Chloe smirked. "There is one way I would be willing to let the teachers know the truth."

"Keep talking," Marinette said as she crossed her arms.

"How about you and I have a little competition?" Chloe suggested. Her words were clearly directed at Marinette even though Alya was still there. "You win, I'll face detention and apologize or whatever. I guess repay the ugly sneakers," Chloe snorted. "I win, and you'll stop bugging me. You'll obviously be humiliated and Adrien will see what a loser you are."

Marinette felt her cheeks get red. She felt anxious. Maybe she could get Alya to compete instead. Marinette herself couldn't possible win against Chloe. _I'd just ruin everything._ Right, she knew she would just let Alix down.

"What kind of competition?" Alya asked.

"Well, I'm good at everything, so I'll win anything."

"So an art contest?"

"No," Chloe rolled her eyes. She didn't seem to like Alya pointing out her lack of skill in arts. "I have an idea. You know that little blog of yours?"

"You read my blog?"

"Shut up. So me and this moron looking like a scared chicken will both make one post. Who gets the most attention, wins." Marinette should've known Chloe's competition would be about seeking attention, that's what she likes doing the most.

"I can't do it," Marinette blurted out. Her thoughts were suffocating her. Anyone else would be better. Anyone but her, she was incapable of anything. She wasn't able to get Alix the pair of sneakers she deserves. She was just a loser, she was just Marinette. "Alya... please?"

Alya nodded, but Chloe didn't accept it. "No, I'm challenging you, Dupain-Cheng. Miss Nosy isn't the one Adrien has been complimenting all day."

It was true. Adrien had given Marinette a few compliments during the day. Marinette didn't know why, and a part of her believed she had misunderstood when Adrien called Marinette smart and her bag a nice color. Maybe it was a national day called Compliment People day. Maybe it was a model thing. Or a family thing. Maybe she just heard wrong.

Marinette didn't know what to say anymore. She couldn't take the challenge, as she'd just fail. _I can't. I can't. I can't._

"I can't!"

And she ran. Ran like there was an akuma chasing her. Ran away from her problems. She didn't stop when the traffic lights were red. She ran.

 _o - o - o - o - o_

She was home again. Still with a beating heart and and an ugly feeling in her stomach. She felt pathetic, but at the same time she found some relief from getting away.

She considered there to be some luck in her situation. It was Friday, and she didn't have to see Chloe's face for the whole weekend. At home, she could just pretend nothing had happened.

Marinette took a deep breath and worked on the date outfits. Work would distract her. She was sewing the short skirt of Ladybug's outfit.

The red skirt dropped on the table as Marinette heard a sudden knock. It was coming from the window.

Marinette walked towards the window framed with pink curtains. She had an needle in her right hand, just for the sake of feeling safe.

She recognized who the mysterious person was. The ears gave it away.

"Hey, princess. I need your help."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **A lack of romance this chapter, but some friendship time with Alya and Marinette!**

 **I was tempted to make Marinette immediately yell at Chloe and Sabrina, but I decided to give that line to Alya. I don't think it's fair that Mari gets to be the great person all the time, since Alya is a brave person aswell.**

 **It seems like Chloe noticed how Adrien remembered his promise to drown Marinette in compliments ;)**

 **What could Chat Noir possibly need from Marinette? We'll see. Thank you for reading ^^**


	5. Chapter 5

"Kitty! What the heck do you think you're doing here?!" Marinette stared at Chat Noir hoping to get an explanation for this confusing visit.

"A simple 'Come in' would've been fine," Chat said as he made a smooth jump to Marinette's room.

"You can't just waltz into my room!" Marinette didn't know how to react.

Chat showed a grin and placed his index finger in front of his lips. "Assuming your parents are home, I recommend you keep it down."

Marinette knew he was right. It would be hard to explain what a superhero was doing in her room. And what made it even harder was that Marinette herself didn't know what Chat Noir was doing there or why he would need her help.

Chat sat down on the floor. Marinette was surprised he didn't just sit on a chair or her bed. Well, maybe not her bed. She sighed and sat down opposite to him.

"I really like your room, princess."

"How do you know where I live?" Marinette was secretly very pleased Chat liked her room. And even more pleased that she had temporarily taken her posters of Adrien down, with the intention to replace them with newer ones.

"I have my sources," he winked. "It really looks like you had free hands with your room. Your personality is shining through with the decorations." Chat smiled. "I like it."

Marinette herself looked around the room. She had walls full of both old and new decorations made by her. There were also pictures of her and her family and friends to always keep as many precious moments as she can within reach. Her dearest blanket had her flower design in it. Her desk was full of designs in messy piles. Everything was pink.

Suddenly her room filled with important things to her felt like an intimate part of her. She didn't exactly mind Chat's presence, though.

"Well, I'm very flattered," She chuckled quietly.

Chat had a really nice smile. He had nice hair, too. Marinette wondered if his hair was soft and whether or not it would be appropriate to move next to him and play with his hair. It would not.

"But can we talk about why you're here now?" Marinette quickly turned her gaze away from Chat's face. _Too distracting._

"As I said, I need your help," he exclaimed. "There have been people disappearing." Chat held a pause to see Marinette's reaction.

"Disappearing? Why hasn't it been on the news?" She asked.

"The police and us think it has something to do with Hawkmoth so we've been keeping the information private. We don't want to worry the citizens. It's up to me and Ladybug to solve this," Chat scratched his head.

Marinette already felt uncomfortable. "Why do you think it has something to do with Hawkmoth?"

Chat didn't seem too happy talking about this either. "The latest akuma victim was a person who had disappeared. She said she doesn't remember anything from the time she was gone," Chat looked the most serious Marinette had ever seen him. "She was first seen akumatized on the street where there was a car crash at the same time. And not counting her, it's been quiet with attacks."

Marinette tried to piece the puzzle together. "You think Hawkmoth is the one taking the people?"

"Yes. We have a theory," Chat took a breath. "What if Hawkmoth was keeping people just to akumatize them when it was the toughest situation? Like during a car crash?"

"I..." Marinette wasn't sure what to do with this information dump. "I think it's possible. But why do you think you need my help? I'm just -"

"Marinette, do you have anything to put into the laundry machine?" Sabine's yell interrupted.

 _Oh no._ "Hide!" She whispered to Chat and shoved him behind her bed.

Her mother had made her way to Marinette's room. "Any laundry?"

"Yes, yes! Here they are!" Marinette said and hastily threw her laundry basket to Sabine's hands.

Sabine raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Don't work too hard, honey."

With that she left the room. Marinette took a deep breath. "It's fine now," she said and tried to turn around but didn't notice Chat's feet and before she knew it, she was falling. _Typical._

Chat's chest had softened the fall. _He's too close_. Marinette muttered her apologies but couldn't focus on anything. _His face is too close_.

"Will you help us?" Chat asked. His green eyes looked really... _green._

"Marinette?"

"Yes?"

"Please?" So green.

"Yes."

"Great." He let out a relieved laugh. Marinette thought that maybe she was seeing some pink on his cheeks. "I don't mind princesses falling for me, but can you - uh..."

 _I'm still on top him? I'm still on top of him. Oh._ "I'm so sorry!" Marinette moved away so quickly she practically jumped.

Marinette sat way farther away from him now than earlier. Her heartbeat had an odd pace. "So. Why do you think you need my help?"

Chat was smiling. "The police said us patrolling more than usual would cause worry within the citizens. So we need to do the patrolling in our human forms."

Marinette was focused again.

"And since you're a designer, I was thinking maybe you could give us outfits. We'll get wigs and makeup, too," Chat said with a confident tone. "So if Hawkmoth is following the activities of the streets, he wont know who we really are."

"I see..." Marinette pulled her legs closer to her. "And if you'd buy clothes from a shop, it would be possible for him to track down the shop and through that the customers of it."

There was a moment of silence. She felt anxious again.

"I'll be honest with you, Chat. I don't think I'm the right one for this job. I know there's plenty of better people to work with in Paris," Marinette said. _I'm definitely not good enough to help superheroes._

"There's plenty of people in Paris, but I want _you_. I need _you_."

"I'm not good enough." Marinette looked down.

"I assure you, you are."

"But -"

"Nope. You already agreed to it," Chat smirked.

"I did?" Marinette remembered her earlier 'yes'. Did that even count? She had been too flustered to think about anything.

"You did."

 _Crap._


	6. Chapter 6

"Nope, nope, nope, nope," Marinette stood up and grabbed Chat's hand in an attempt to get him up aswell. "This has been lovely and all but I'll show you to the door now - I mean, window."

"Don't worry, I'm not in a hurry," Chat grinned playfully and pulled Marinette back to the floor. "And a princess wouldn't go back on her word, would she?"

It really wasn't like Marinette. She valued honesty and keeping promises."Chat, I..."

"And I already told Ladybug you'd be helping us."

"You _what_?" Marinette's eyes widened. If she refused now Ladybug would think she's a total loser. How could she be best friends with the writer of Ladyblog if Ladybug hated her? Or how could she assume Ladybug would help her if she ever got akumatized when she herself didn't help Ladybug in her time of need?

Marinette sighed and punched Chat Noir in the arm slowly and quietly.

"Fine. You win," Marinette said reluctantly and Chat's face lit up. "But I make no promises of success."

 _o - o - o - o - o_

"Geez, Marinette. I knew you were great but I didn't know you were _this_ great," Chat said admiring how fast and determined the girl with pigtails was.

"Anybody could do this much," Marinette said as she was finishing the blue jeans for Chat Noir. She knew she was bad at men's clothing, but she had tried to pick things that wouldn't be that out of her comfort-zone.

Marinette already had unused clothing that would fit Ladybug, and she had experience with hoodies so the hoodie for Chat was made fairly easily. This secret mission to help the superheros hadn't been as hard as Marinette had originally thought.

Chat snorted at her response and spun around in the swiwel chair next to Marinette. That was the chair she normally used, but since she had seen the excitement in Chat's eyes she hadn't said anything.

"If you could take just one thing with you to a deserted island, what would it be?" Chat asked casually while staring at the roof. The question seemed to come out of nowhere.

"What?" Marinette's hands stopped for a moment. She turned her head to Chat as he lowered his gaze from the roof. Neither of them blinked for a few seconds. Marinette realized Chat really was waiting for an answer.

"Uhh... I guess I'd take my design book," Marinette shrugged and turned back to the jeans. But she knew that wasn't really a thought-out response. "No. Wait. Let me think."

She tried to put some thought into it this time. Chat waited patiently. "Can it be something you don't have?" she asked.

"Sure," Chat said and leaned on the wooden desk. He made sure not to crush any designs.

"Then..." Marinette made her final decision. "I guess I'd take courage."

A small moment of silence made its way into the conversation. Chat looked like he was thinking about something, but Marinette didn't know what. Was she supposed to take an object after all? Her answer started slowly embarrassing her, but she didn't take it back.

"Most people would take their pet," Chat said. "Or something they love. Don't you love anything, princess?" The mood wasn't tense anymore.

"Gosh, I'm not heartless," Marinette gently poked Chat's nose. "I just need courage to get back to the things and the people I love," Marinette reasoned.

Chat grinned and moved just a bit closer to Marinette. He himself probably hadn't realized it but Marinette noticed. "The people you love? Are there any boyf - "

A sharp knock from the window interrupted Chat's sentence. _Don't tell me..._

"Come in!" Chat yelled. That wasn't really his job to do, as it was Marinette's room, but she didn't mind. What happened to being quiet, though?

Marinette couldn't help but to stare when the girl in costume made her way inside the room. She carried a certain type of grace Marinette hadn't encountered before. Marinette had never been so close to the hero. Her long, red hair and even redder costume glued Marinette's eyes on her. Her whole existence was so fierce Marinette had no trouble understanding why the citizens loved her so much.

"Hi," she said as she made her way to Marinette's desk. Marinette couldn't help but to think about how cool she was. Even her greeting was cool! "You must be Marinette. I'm Ladybug."

"Hello," Marinette's voice was the smallest it had ever been. Was she supposed to shake her hand? She ended up just waving. She knew she probably looked like a deer in the headlights.

"Should I be offended you weren't acting like this when we met?" Chat asked jokingly. "I'm the hero of Paris, too!"

"More like the sidekick," Ladybug laughed. Her laughter sounded very genuine. "Don't get mad, chaton," she ruffled Chat's hair as the cat pouted. Marinette was amazed at how easily she could do such a thing.

Marinette had gotten the idea that Chat and Ladybug were having issues in their relationship, but here they were, acting as close as childhood friends. She was confused, but now wasn't the time to interview them on their relationship. Not that it had anything to do with her, anyway.

"Thank you for your help, Marinette. I was really glad when Chat sent me that message just now," Ladybug smiled.

Chat let out a nervous laughter.

"Just now? But I thought he had already told you," Marinette said slowly.

Both ladies looked at Chat. "You are so dead!" Marinette exclaimed.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't lie to our teammate, chaton," Ladybug shook her head.

"Forgive me?" Chat Noir said, mostly to Marinette. His green eyes looked shinier than usual, but Marinette wasn't sure if she was just imagining it.

"Not the kitten eyes!" she posed dramatically and tried to fight the smile that was attempting to form on her face.

"Pleaaaase?"

"He can be such a pain," Ladybug commented.

"Alright, I'll forgive you just this once," Marinette turned back to the jeans. "Only because I need to finish these jeans."

Chat looked happy.

"Right, the outfit for chaton!" Ladybug quickly turned around. "Glad I didn't see it, that would be no good. Do you think I could try on the outfit for me, Marinette?"

"Of course! You can try it in the bathroom below us, my parents are always asleep by now." Marinette stood up and got the clothes while Chat covered his eyes.

"Alright, thanks," Ladybug took the clothes with gratitude and disappeared from the room. It was back to just Marinette and Chat. Marinette sat down again to take a look at the jeans.

"Finished!" Marinette relaxed and picked up the jeans. "Wanna try them?"

"I'd be honoured," Chat looked at them. "But like... where?"

That was a good question. "Eh, here? No. Not here. I take that back," Marinette felt a slight blush on her face. "How about in the kitchen? It's right next to the bathroom. But don't worry, there's a door."

"Okay. I'll be right back," Chat said and left.

It got quiet. Finally Marinette got a moment to herself so she could process things. Two superheros were in her house. How insane was that? She really hoped they liked the clothes.

A thought came to her. A thought she hadn't expected. That maybe…

Maybe she wasn't as useless as she'd thought.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I wanna thank you all for the support you've given this fic! Really brings a smile to my face. Right now this is the longest fic I've written and there's still more chapters to come!**

 **So I made some choices regarding Ladybug that I hope you'll find interesting. Don't worry, there'll be more info on her in future chapters. I have this all planned out so you guys just have to wait and see how the story will unravel. ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

Ladybug was the first to come back. Marinette caught herself nearly falling asleep, which was understandable as it was almost midnight. She hoped she didn't look tired and tried to shake it off. Ladybug looked as high-spirited as always, so Marinette didn't want to be anything else.

"They fit perfectly! You're an irreplaceable help, Marinette," Ladybug said with a bright smile. Could this girl get any nicer? Marinette handed her a bag in which to put the clothes in.

"Eheh... W-well I'm glad to help," Marinette said. It took some willpower not to shoot down the compliment.

"What did I miss?" Chat made his way into the room.

"Nothing, kitty. Did they fit?" Marinette searched for another bag as Ladybug closed her eyes in order to not see the clothes Chat was carrying.

"Of course they did. They're great," Chat said and folded the hoodie and jeans nicely and placed them in the bag. Marinette hadn't expected him to be so careful.

"Alright, I think it's best if we call it a day," Ladybug said as she streched her arms. "Tomorrow's going to be full of work and this kitten on my left needs his beauty sleep."

"Hey!" Chat acted offended, but Marinette could definitely imagine him sleeping with a green face mask. She chuckled at the thought.

"Do you think you could give your number to us?" Ladybug asked as if the question was normal.

Marinette froze. Why would Ladybug ask for her phone number? This was where the mission ended, right? The clothes had been given, so why would there be any need for her number?

The only thing that came out of her mouth was a confused question. "What?"

"So we can call you if we need you. I have a feeling you could be of use, and not many people know about this case," Ladybug said calmly. She wasn't being pressuring at all, nor was she doing anything wrong, but Marinette felt like the floor beneath her was shaking. Not much, but just a bit.

It was one thing to make clothes for superheroes and another thing to actually - to actually what? Marinette had no clue what she would do, fight? Find clues? Whatever it was, it was serious. The small amount of confidence Marinette had gained washed away.

"Uh... I'm very flattered, and all, but I think this is where my place is," she said as she opened her arms a bit to indicate that she was talking about her room.

"You sure? I think you have great qualities and you seem easy to work with," Ladybug said. Ladybug stated things as if they were obvious, but still didn't seem to push her opinions. Marinette was blown away by her confidence. She had no problems with expressing her thoughts.

A familiar feeling reached Marinette. She felt kind of like when she was little, watching her favorite cartoon and admiring the main character. Wanting to be exactly like said main character. Right now, that was the way she looked at Ladybug.

Maybe going along with this would help her understand. Would help her learn about how to change.

Chat Noir gave Marinette a curious look. It was surprising that he didn't say anything, seeing how much he had pushed Marinette to help them earlier.

The superheroes were both waiting for an answer. Marinette wasn't sure how tomorrow was gonna play out, but she was willing to give it a try.

"I'll... I'll give you my number."

 _o - o - o - o - o_

No call. It was already the afternoon, and nobody had called Marinette. At this point she wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to be called.

Right now she was just staring at her phone. Sitting on her bed and anxiously waiting for _something_ to happen. But she guessed it was to be expected that they realized they had no use for her after all.

"Gosh!" she said to herself out of frustration and threw her pillow on the floor. It was a pretty day outside and she was just gonna spend it losing her mind inside?

 _Whatever._ She checked her phone, this time to see if Adrien's newest photoshoot had been posted yet. It hadn't. She sighed and stood up to go make herself a smoothie. Just as she was about to leave the room, she heard the familiar opening to a Korean drama series.

She jumped back on her bed and grabbed the phone. "Hi?"

"Marinette, did you remember to clean your room?" Sabine said. Marinette's parents were spending the day at a baking contest.

"Yes, mom," Marinette said and almost laughed at the situation.

"Alright, honey. Try to get some fresh air. Love you."

"Love you, too," Marinette said and ended the phone call. Getting up again would be too much work so she decided to give up on the idea of a smoothie.

Her phone rang again. This time Marinette didn't get the chance to say anything, when she already heard Chat Noir's voice. For a second she thought the voice was Adrien's.

"Marinette, come here right now and bring cheese. Camembert. I'll text you the address," he said and closed the call.

 _Is this the real deal?_ Marinette was screaming inside as she was reading the address. She almost fell down the stairs of her room while trying to get to the kitchen.

 _Camembert, Camembert..._ A little confused as to why cheese was needed, she scanned the fridge with her eyes. Luckily, they did have Camembert. She never really liked that cheese but her dad was a big fan.

She was already heading out the door when she thought of something. _Should I bring a yo-yo?_ Would it be silly? Ladybug probably had some magical yo-yo, so it's not like Marinette would be able to do anything.

Nevertheless, she turned around just to climb back to her room and search her chest of drawers for a yo-yo. Alya had bought her one as a gift, so she knew she had it. It didn't take long before she found it and stuffed it in her purse.

 _o - o - o - o - o_

The address was to a kindergarten for rich kids. Marinette made her way there pretty quickly by bike, as it wasn't too far. She knew the tall building was Adrien's former kindergarten, though she hadn't found that out in a conversation with him. She swore she wasn't a stalker, though!

It seemed like an odd place for Hawkmoth to hide people gone missing, but maybe it had something to do with it being in a pretty random spot. The kindergarten was surrounded by other tall buildings so it would be easy to miss if you weren't looking for it.

Marinette's hands were trembling a little. Her nervousness wasn't helped by the fact that she couldn't spot Chat Noir or Ladybug and she wasn't sure where to leave her bike, but ended up placing it next to some gray building.

"You must be Marinette."

She almost screamed at the sudden voice that didn't sound like it belonged to anyone she knew. But she didn't scream, instead of that she just turned around.

A small, black creature was looking at her. "I'm Plagg. Cool to meet you."

Marinette was confused. Was she seeing things? _This is weird. This is so weird._ Still, her natural instinct was to be polite. "Hi, Plagg. Nice to meet you, too."

She reached to shake hands with the creature. It turned out to be a bad idea, because Plagg's hands were way too small to shake normally. Plagg didn't seem to mind the thought though, so Marinette ended up giving her pinkie to him.

"So, you got my Camembert?"


	8. Chapter 8

Marinette stared at Plagg. Was she not supposed to be weirded out? Was it normal to talk to a creature that kind of looked like a flying cat? Marinette was pretty sure cats didn't fly.

"The Camembert... was for you?" she asked slowly. She glanced around, but Chat Noir was still nowhere to be found.

"Yep! My favorite. I can't transform the boy if I haven't eaten," Plagg explained. For a magical creature he didn't seem dangerous.

"Alright..." Marinette decided to trust Plagg. If she was able to accept superheroes and akumatizing butterflies, she should be able to accept a flying cat. "But where _is_ Chat?" she asked as she took the cheese out of a separate bag. She hadn't put it in her purse because the smell would stick around forever.

"He's hiding 'cause you can't see him in his civilian form," Plagg said before stuffing the cheese in his small mouth. Marinette could see from his face that he really liked Camembert. She smiled at Plagg's visible joy.

The creature took a moment of silence before talking again. "Alright. I'll go get him," he said and Marinette watched him fly behind the corner of the kindergarten.

The nervousness hadn't left her. What was gonna happen next? And was this really the place where the missing people were? Marinette didn't want to stay alone with her thoughts for too long, and luckily she didn't have to.

Chat Noir walked her way, but without Plagg on his side. Marinette walked towards him with lots of questions swirling through her mind.

She didn't get a chance to present them when Chat already took her by the waist. "Hold on, I feel more comfortable above the ground," he said. Marinette had seen him get through wide distances with his black staff before, but going with him?

She screamed. If she ever went to the Olympics it would not be for pole vault. She closed her eyes tight and wanted it to be over. Her wish came true.

"You... You could've asked for my permission first!" Marinette looked at Chat. They had landed on a car shelter, which Marinette acknowledged was not very high. But he had also held her waist. The thought made Marinette embarrassed in a weird way and her cheeks felt a little warm.

Chat looked surprised. "Were you scared? I'm so sorry, Marinette." The worry on his face was clear. "I'm so used to it, I didn't realize..."

"It's fine," Marinette interrupted. Chat seemed so genuine she couldn't be mad at him. She sat down and the superhero followed her lead.

A subtle feeling of happiness was located inside her. She felt comfortable next to Chat Noir. Even if she was sitting on cold metal, she wanted to stay in the moment. But she knew she should ask for answers. That's what Ladybug would do.

"So... Could you fill me in on the mission so far?" she tried to be cool but cracked a smile. Chat didn't see it though, his eyes were turned away from Marinette.

"Oh, right," Chat said. "Well, we've been going around this area, because this is where a lot of the missing people were last seen and near where the car accident happened."

"I see... So, why this building?"

"Well, this was my kindergarten and I remembered it had a huge basement. It's worth the shot," Chat explained. He seemed a bit down. Usually he was more excited and jokey. It could be because he was concerned for the missing people, but Marinette thought that maybe there was something more to it.

"Everything okay, kitty?" she asked and tried to make eye contact with the cat. It worked for a second, but Chat Noir turned his head away quicly.

"Yeah..." he started. "It's just that this brings back a lot of memories of my mom and when things were... different," he said quietly.

Marinette hadn't thought that Chat Noir could have problems that made him look so sad. She sat in a helpless feeling of knowing she wasn't able to do anything to help him. But she also knew what she wanted to do. She really wanted to hug him.

And she did. Carefully, she wrapped her arms around Chat. "Do you wanna talk about it?" she whispered.

"I'd rather not," Chat said. He felt tense and warm. "But thanks."

Marinette wasn't going to force him to talk. If he wanted to tell her about it, she would listen. But there was no need to try to pressure him. She took a moment before she let go of him.

"Was Plagg nice to you?" Chat changed the subject.

"Oh, right! Yes! Good to know I'm not going insane," Marinette laughed nervously. "So he's the thing that transforms you?"

"Yeah, he needs Camembert to be able to do it, but he hadn't told me he hadn't had enough at home. So that's why I called you," Chat finally looked at Marinette. "Thanks for that, too."

A chuckle came out of her. "So what happens now that you're transformed?" Another thought came to her mind. "And where's Ladybug?"

Chat's expression changed when Marinette mentioned Ladybug. "We called each other and she's inside the building checking if there are any workers we should tell to go home and explain the situation to," Chat said. "She told me to wait here for her to come back and we'd check the basement together."

"Should I go home?" Marinette asked. Her work there was basically done when she had brought the Camembert. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go home, though. She didn't understand her feelings.

Chat grabbed Marinette's hand as if she was about to run away. "Stay. You could help us," Chat said and let go of the hand as quickly as he had grabbed it. "And to be honest, I'm glad not to be alone with Ladybug."

"Things seemed fine between you two in my room," Marinette blurted out. She hadn't meant to.

A pair of green eyes looked at her. It felt as if they were analyzing her and whether or not to say something. "I'm in love with her," he blurted out in return. "At least I think I am," he added.

Marinette's eyes widened. "Oh," she said. She wasn't sure how to react. She was used to talking about crushes with Alya, but this felt different. She didn't feel the same excitement she had felt when Alya told her about her feelings for Nino. And she shouldn't be surprised, she had already known something was going on between the superheroes. "Does she know?"

"No," he sighed. "But I don't think she likes me back. She feels more distant as of late, and I don't even know why. It's driving me insane."

Maybe it was selfish of her to try to satisfy her own curiosity, but she had to know. "What do you like about her?"

Chat looked like he was thinking. "She's awesome. She always saves the day. She's fearless and never, _never_ gives up."

"Like a superhero," Marinette said. She wasn't being sarcastic, that was just the first thought that came to her.

Chat frowned. "Right. A superhero. Because that's the only thing I know about her." He snorted. "Maybe that's why she doesn't like me. My feelings must seem shallow as a puddle."

"Don't say that."

"It's true. I don't even know her. It's like she's on this great pedestal I can never reach," he said with pain in his eyes. Marinette didn't like seeing it. "I'm so silly."

"I think love can never be silly," Marinette said. She believed in her words.

"How about you? Any boyfriends?" Chat asked casually but then started adding questions. "You into artists? Or redheads? Blondes are cooler."

Marinette got confused by the latter questions, but understood that Chat was asking about her relationships. Seemed natural, as they had just talked about his crush.

She felt awkward. Should she tell Chat about her crush on Adrien? It would be weird if he knew her outside his superhero form. And they had only known each other for a few days, but still... Marinette already considered him a friend.

"There's this guy..." she started.

"A redhead?"

"No. It's a guy who I really like," she blushed just thinking about Adrien. "He's so kind. He's kind to _everyone_ , even this one mean girl in my class. He always makes sure everyone is happy. He doesn't make fun of me even when I'm super weird," Marinette smiled. "He's honestly just _perfect_."

"So we're in the same boat?"

"Huh?"

"If you think he's perfect then you probably don't really know him," Chat added.

Marinette felt oddly offended. "Excuse me?"

"It feels good to know I'm not alone with a silly crush," Chat said. Marinette couldn't figure out what his tone was trying to be. Was he trying to be rude?

Frustration was building up inside her. She had just poured her heart out and what did she get? She got called silly. There was a storm coming to her blue eyes that usually looked like a calm sea.

"You know what, _chaton_? You can keep on swimming in your self-pity but friends don't make fun of each other's feelings," she stood up. _"I_ know he'll never like me and _I_ know I'll never be good enough for a guy like him, but it's not _your_ job to sprinkle salt into my wounds."

"Marinette, I - "

"No. I'm not having this."

* * *

 **Author's Note:  
**

 **A tense chapter! A lack of puns and banter, but the characters were a bit upset.**

 **As I consider myself to still be just a little clueless on this website, are you supposed to answer to comments? I want to answer to them all, but I'm not sure if that's what you're supposed to do or if it's just a bother to receive a thanks. If someone could tell me I'd be happy.**

 **If anyone's interested in my youtube animatic of Miraculous Ladybug, the link is in my profile :)**

 **Anyway, thanks for your support and see you in the next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

Marinette didn't get much time to sulk when she saw a tall man walking towards the front door of the kindergarten. She didn't know what the man was doing there.

"Get me down," Marinette said coldly. She didn't want to sprain her ankle jumping down from the car shelter.

Chat stood up silently and carefully took Marinette by her waist. Marinette refused to scream this time and before she knew it, they were back to standing on the hard ground.

She didn't say anything and started to make her way to the slim man without looking back to see what Chat was going to do. She stayed behind the man, as she didn't want to be noticed. The man seemed familiar, but Marinette couldn't recognize him just by his back.

The man was reaching the door and Marinette was feeling a bit helpless. What was she supposed to do? She kind of wanted to just talk to the man, but what if he was dangerous? Could he be Hawkmoth? He did fit the body type. Marinette's whole body felt tense and her heart was beating loud and clear.

 _What would Ladybug do?_ She had seen all kinds of clips of Ladybug fighting bad guys with her yo-yo and her kicks and punches. Marinette's yo-yo didn't work that way, but maybe she could try to throw a punch. The thought of punching someone made Marinette feel weird.

Marinette was as close to the man as he was to the door. She felt uneasy, but she had promised to try to be more like Ladybug. Ladybug was a fighter, a superhero. She was fearless. Marinette took a deep breath and raised her arms.

But before she could do anything, someone grabbed her wrist. She tried to release herself from the grip, but she was dragged behind the corner of the building.

"Would you stop trying to act like Ladybug!?" Chat Noir yelled at her. His eyes were narrow and he had placed his arms on the wall so that Marinette had no choice but to face him.

"You had no right to - " Marinette started to yell back but then she realized what Chat had said to her. "Wait, what?"

"Stop trying to act like Ladybug," Chat Noir repeated. He wasn't loud this time, but his eyes were still fierce.

Marinette was taken aback by his words. Had she been doing it all wrong? "I-I-I'm not trying..."

Chat's expression softened. "Look, Marinette. Trying to be someone you're not never works out. I've been putting on an act my whole life and that's gotten me nowhere."

At this point Marinette didn't care that she was supposed to be angry at Chat Noir. She wasn't gonna let him off the hook, but now wasn't the time. "What are you saying?"

Chat let his arms down. "I'm saying, that you don't need to do stuff the way superheroes do it. You can just do it your way, the princess way," Chat said and gently poked Marinette's nose.

Marinette smiled clumsily. "I just want to be the best person I can be," she said carefully. Chat's words were sweet but they were just words.

"I know, Mari. But that person isn't Ladybug. That person is you," Chat said. "I know I can't convince you, but just think about it, okay?"

"I'll figure it out," Marinette said. She didn't know if she was ready to let go of Ladybug yet, as she had been so sure Ladybug would be the answer to her problems. But she would figure it all out. Eventually.

"We should probably go check on that man," Marinette said.

"Yeah," Chat said. Then he looked like he thought of something funny. "Were you really going to punch that poor guy?" he laughed.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm pretty badass," Marinette joked as they started to walk towards the front of the building.

"Don't act like you didn't need your knight in shining armor," Chat winked.

"You're the furthest possible thing from a prince," Marinette chuckled. Her statement wasn't very truthful.

"Ouch," Chat said. They were already in front of the glass door, and they saw the man inside. Chat and Marinette exchanged looks before Marinette opened the door.

The man turned around and Marinette knew who he was. It was Mylene's father. How had she not paid attention to the hat he was wearing?

"Oh! Hello, Marinette," he said and waved.

"Hi, Mr. Haprèle," Marinette smiled. She felt embarrassed because of her previous plans to punch him from behind. She knew her face was probably really red.

Fred Haprèle looked at Chat. "Chat Noir! Sorry again for our last encounter," he said. "If I may ask, what brings you two here?"

"Actually, we're here to get a few things done," Chat said.

"Nothing dangerous, of course," Marinette added when she saw Fred's suspicious look.

"I have been given the mission to clean this place up! Toddlers love it when superheroes clean their messes. I'll even sign a few toys!"

"And I'm here to help! Cleaning is a lot more fun with a friend," Marinette flashed a smile that she hoped didn't look unnatural.

"Yep! And that's why we kind of need the place for ourselves today. I'm very sorry, but would you be fine coming back some other day?" Chat asked and Marinette could tell he was trying to be extra charming.

Fred looked at the both of them for a second before answering. "Well, because I work here part-time, I was supposed to check if I left my jacket here. But if you're up to something important, like cleaning..." Fred didn't look fully convinced. "I suppose I can come back tomorrow."

"Thank you for being so understanding," Marinette said. She hadn't known that Fred worked for the kindergarten.

"No problem," Fred smiled. "I have to say, you two are quite an odd pair," he said before he left.

Both Chat and Marinette let out a breath. They could've been smoother with their words, but everything turned out fine.

"I found the elevator."

Marinette turned around to see who the voice belonged to, even though she already knew the answer.

Ladybug smiled at them. "Ready?"


	10. Chapter 10

"Ready," Marinette said. She still wasn't quite sure about what exactly was going to happen, but she was ready to do her best despite being nervous.

"I was born ready, m'lady," Chat Noir grinned as he walked towards Ladybug. Remembering how Chat had told about his unrequited feelings and the confusion in their relationship, Marinette wasn't sure if their goofy interactions were to fool Marinette or themselves. "Where's the elevator?"

"Right here," Ladybug pointed to her left. The fancy elevator was behind a wall, but it was only a few steps away from the group. "But I'm afraid you're gonna have to use the stairs, chaton. Me and Marinette are taking the elevator," Ladybug carefully pulled Marinette inside the elevator with her and pressed a button.

"What?" Chat looked as confused as Marinette felt. But he didn't try to kick his way in, he just watched the doors close with his mouth open.

Marinette was left in the elevator alone with Ladybug. There was actually more space than she had imagined, easily room for more than ten people. Marinette watched as Ladybug pressed buttons to different floors, only one of which was below ground.

"Uh... What's this about?" Marinette asked. She wanted to trust that the superhero knew what she was doing, but it was hard.

"This must seem weird, I'm very sorry for confusing you," Ladybug said and leaned against the mirror opposite to Marinette. "I needed to talk to you about something. Without Chat."

"Okay," Marinette waited for her to continue. She quickly glanced at her reflection in the mirror to check if her pigtails were messy.

"It's actually about Chat. I'm not sure if he's mentioned anything about our relationship to you, but in any case, I was hoping you could help me. And him," Ladybug said. Marinette just now noticed how caring the superhero's eyes were. They weren't full of fire and lighting, they were warm in a different way.

The elevator doors opened as they had reached the second floor. Ladybug and Marinette let them close and continued their way to higher floors.

"Mmm," Marinette acknowledged what Ladybug had said but needed more information.

Ladybug let out a breath. "I think Chat really needs a friend right now. I know there's something going on behind the scenes. I'm worried about him, he needs someone to support him."

"Why can't that be you?" Marinette let out.

Ladybug smiled, but the smile didn't have a hint of joy. She looked sad. "It's complicated. But my point is, I'd like you to be his unconditional support."

They were on the third floor.

"Is this why you asked for my number?"

"You're a sweet girl, Marinette. And I know Chat knows that, too. So yes, this is the help I was thinking about earlier."

Marinette gulped. "I don't know what to say." She didn't know how to feel, either. She had finally let herself think that she was wanted on the mission. That she would help to save the missing people.

"Please don't misunderstand. Of course you can help on this mission aswell, but this is just what I originally had to say. Marinette, I can see how good you are," Ladybug said. Marinette wasn't listening. She felt bad in the stomach and stupid in the head.

"I think I'm gonna take the stairs after all," she said as the doors opened once again. "And about that Chat thing, you don't need to tell me to be his friend. I already am."

 _o - o - o - o - o_

The sound of Marinette stumbling down the stairs was loud. She didn't care, though. Well, she did care about the possibility of Chat hearing her, so she tried to be just a bit more quiet.

She really needed some fresh air. Ladybug talking about Chat Noir... It was great that she cared for her partner, but Marinette did not need to be told to support Chat, nor did Chat need Ladybug telling people to be his friend. And why couldn't Ladybug support Chat herself?

 _Why am I even here?_ If her only job had been to bring the cheese and listen to Ladybug talk about Chat Noir, she should just go home.

But something was stopping her from leaving. No, it wasn't that she couldn't leave. She didn't _want_ to.

Marinette stopped her stumbling and took a moment to breath. She would definitely go to that basement and save the missing people, if they really were there. And she wouldn't do it like Ladybug. She would do it as herself and prove her worth.

Marinette closed her eyes, counted to ten and ran down the stairs. She was not missing this.

 _o - o - o - o - o_

"Princess!"

Marinette panted and leaned on her knees. "Hi, kitty. Ladybug is still on her way."

Chat Noir was sitting on the floor of a big, gray room. Almost everything in this building was gray and it was starting to suck the life out of Marinette. But the boring color reminded her of pigeons, and they reminded her of Adrien. So maybe it wasn't that bad after all.

"Are you ok?" Chat asked. Marinette concluded she didn't look her best after the running and stressing out. Even though she had looked okay just a minute ago! She threw a distracted nod at Chat.

The doors opened and Ladybug came out. "Marinette," she said.

"It's fine. Really," Marinette said. They didn't have time for this.

"Gonna explain to me what happened?" Chat Noir raised his other eyebrow and stood up.

"Girl stuff," Marinette said vaguely.

"Okayyy. Well, I took a look at some of the rooms but there was nothing special. Offices, play rooms. I actually remembed one of the kitchens," Chat said. "Anyway. This one is locked," he pointed at a heavy-looking metal door. It certainly was thick enough to keep voices in.

"Could the key be in one of the offices?" Marinette asked.

"It's possible," Ladybug said. "But there's too many," she spun around to put weight on the amount of the wooden doors.

"I'll use my Cataclysm," Chat said and raised his fist.

"But we're not even sure if this is the place," Ladybug sighed. "Still, we do need to give it a try."

"We'll just have to be really quick," Marinette said. She knew Chat wouldn't take much time to transform back into his civilian form after using his power.

Chat nodded with a serious face. "Cataclysm!"

Marinette witnessed dark energy dance around Chat's fingers before he smashed his fist into the metal door. She stood in silence when the door lost its original color and turned to black. A light touch from Chat was enough to make the newly black door fall.

The sight that followed made Marinette hold her breath.

Ladybug was the first to step into the dark room, with Chat Noir and Marinette walking behind her. The room they entered seemed like it was very big, but boxes were covering up so much space that Marinette wasn't sure where exactly the walls were. Some of the boxes were opened and some had people sitting on them.

 _People._ About fifteen people were sitting or lying down, one woman was walking in circles. Marinette gulped. There were a couple of children, elderly people, adults... Everybody looked tired and spiritless, but now they all turned their heads to the group.

"Attention, everybody! We have come here to save you, do not worry anymore!" Ladybug declared with a determined look on her face. Marinette saw hope making its way to the eyes of the people. One boy hugged a woman who Marinette assumed to be his mother.

"We'll call the cops and help the people who don't have the energy to get home themselves," Chat said. He swiftly avoided stepping on a toy near him. There were other toys on the floor aswell. Marinette thought they were probably from the boxes.

Ladybug gave Chat Noir and Marinette a look that said they should do something. Marinette's legs moved to an elderly woman to ask if she was okay and Chat Noir checked on a crying little girl. Ladybug herself took out her phone in order to call the cops.

Marinette had a million questions. How were they trapped? Why here? Did they get food? How did the employees miss this? How did the akumas make their way here? But she put everything aside. It wasn't appropriate to bother the trapped people with questions, and right now they should just be allowed to make their way home.

Marinette helped the elderly woman with white hair stand up when someone yelled out.

"It's here! It's here again!" a frightened middle-aged man panicked. Marinette made sure the woman was standing firmly before turning around to see what was the reason for the yell.

A black butterfly with purple highlights was flying near the ceiling. Marinette stiffened. _An akuma._

"Is this because Hawkmoth knows we're here or because something's happening on the outside?" Chat Noir asked and looked ready to fight. It would be bad if there was an accident going on outside, an akuma attack could really do some damage. Yes, Ladybug could fix things with her powers, but human lives and a scared atmosphere would be different.

"Everybody, stay calm!" Ladybug said while trying to give directions to the phone.

The butterfly was actually kind of pretty, in a twisted sense. At least it had potential to be beautiful after Ladybug would catch it. Marinette stared as the akuma made it's way across the room and landed on a gingerheaded girl's glasses.

"No!" The girl screamed. Ladybug and Chat Noir took position with grave faces. Marinette hastily ran to the girl, she needed to do something. She needed to say something.

"You need to fight it!" Marinette yelled with a shaky, yet loud voice.

 _Wait. I know this girl._

"Sabrina! You need to fight it!" she yelled again, louder. Even though Sabrina was now only a few steps away from her, Marinette couldn't keep her volume down.

"I can't! I can't!" Sabrina was holding her head with both hands. Marinette bit her lip. There was no way she'd let this happen.

"You can do it! I know you can!" Marinette insisted. Ladybug and Chat weren't trying to convince Sabrina with her, they were used to fighting. _But that's not the only option._

"No! I'm nothing without Chloe, and she's not here! She's the only reason I ever do anything!" the girl screamed. Marinette didn't know how much more time they had.

"That's wrong!" Marinette yelled. "You're so many things. You just don't see it! You're hardworking, loyal, smart - "

"But!" Sabrina cried. She was trying her hardest not to let the akuma take control. Her teeth were tightly pressed against each other.

"With our without Chloe! You're you, and that's enough!" Marinette yelled. She meant it. Marinette knew Sabrina had done some awful things, but she also knew that Sabrina could grow from all that. She just needed to be given a shot.

"I'm... enough?" Sabrina whispered. Her hands let go of her head and she blinked slowly.

Marinette witnessed as Sabrina's glasses broke down within a second. A white butterfly flew out of the pieces. _Purified?_

Everybody was staring at the butterfly that flew away. It didn't seem harmful anymore. It was glowing light.

"I fought it?" Sabrina fell down on her knees.

"We've never seen anyone purify an akuma like that," Ladybug said and let her right arm holding her yo-yo fall down. She had put her phone away so the police were probably on their way.

"Are you okay?" Chat Noir asked and offered the gingerhead a hand.

"Yes," Sabrina stood up with the help of Chat. "I've been feeling so anxious for the the hours I've spent here. No, before today, too..." She wiped her tears. "Thanks, Marinette."

"You're the one who fought the akuma," Marinette smiled weakly. "I only pointed out facts."

"Sure, but sometimes facts are hard to see," Sabrina pulled Marinette into a hug. A wave of comfort hit Marinette.

"We need to get these people out before Hawkmoth sends more akumas," Ladybug said and took the hands of two children.

Before heading out the door, the spotted superhero briefly glanced at Marinette. And smiled.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hi everyone! There's been a longer break than usual for this chapter, whoops. I was in France and then wrote a small one-shot :D This chapter was also harder to write than usual, because I wasn't quite sure how I'd execute the final scene. But it's here now ;) And it has 2k words, woooo.**

 **Right, so let's hope we're now really past Marinette's gloomy stage and can have her do stuff besides moping around xd The next chapter will have some interesting things that I won't spoil! ;)**

 **To princess: It's a very hard decision on what my favorite ship is, don't make me choose ;-; I love Marichat but I think I might just have to go with Adrienette... Stuttering Mari is just too lovely.**

 **Once again, thank you for all your support! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

It was Sunday night. Marinette was back to sitting on her bed and wondering. Her mind was still on the events of yesterday.

She didn't usually watch the news, but she had made an exception yesterday. She had watched the replay of the firemen taking care of a small fire with the help of Ladybug and Chat Noir. That had been the accident that was the reason for Hawkmoth sending an akuma to the trapped people.

While the superheroes were lending their hands to the firemen, Marinette had been given the task to make sure everyone got safely home. The adults had assured her they knew their way, and Marinette had helped the children call their parents. She had watched the tearful and desperate hugs between family members with a sad smile.

Marinette had walked the elderly woman to her home. Marinette had suggested a taxi, but Clara had insisted she needed fresh air. She was a very friendly woman with a bright smile.

Marinette knew some people would have eagerly wanted to be a part of putting out the fire, but Marinette was oddly satisfied with her role

Her designing stuff was on the desk. They hadn't been touched in a while. And the date outfits were still unfinished.

Marinette stood up and placed her feet into her pink slippers. She made her way to the desk with a small grin. She had many unanswered questions about yesterday, but that didn't feel like it mattered right now.

Just by lifting the fabric up again Marinette felt like she was in her element. Not making random pieces out of necessity for a superhero mission, _actually_ making clothes. Making them out of passion. Wanting someone to wear them, to _see_ them. She stopped for a second. That was a scary thought. But she had already been a lot more brave this weekend than she had been during her whole life.

After a while of sewing, Marinette heard a knock from her window. She had no doubts about who it was.

"It's open," she said without lifting her head. She knew Chat would hear her, she hadn't fully closed the window in order to keep her room a bit cooler.

"Hey, princess," Chat Noir jumped inside and made her way to Marinette. "Did you leave your window open just for me?"

"Mm," Marinette had her mind on the clothings.

"I'm flattered," Chat let out an unnatural laugh.

"Mm."

And then Chat Noir was suddenly right in front of her. He gently held up her chin and fiercely looked into her eyes, forcing Marinette to focus on him. She could feel Chat's warm breath. She wasn't sure when this had happened, but the clothes she had been holding were on the floor now.

"Why aren't you paying attention to me?" Chat asked with a calm and quiet voice.

Marinette opened her mouth but no words came out. She just stared at Chat, who was only a few centimeters away. What was she supposed to say?

Chat snapped out of it and abruptly let go of Marinette's chin. "I don't know w-what that was," Chat clumsily jumped away from Marinette. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I did that, I just..."

"It's fine," Marinette said, still surprised. She tried to cover up her confusion by smiling. "I can take a break from these for a little," she picked up the clothes from the ground.

Chat had turned his face away from Marinette. He was holding his hand in front of him, and Marinette thought he looked a little red.

"So, what's up?" she asked. She was secretly a bit amused by Chat's embarrassment.

"Nothing. Wait, no," Chat glanced at Marinette and then turned away again. "I thought we should talk about yesterday."

"Yeah, I have been thinking about that," Marinette revealed. "You wanna talk in the bakery? We made too many chocolate cupcakes."

 _o - o - o - o - o_

"Letting me eat all these cupcakes is so _sweet_ of you, princess," Chat said before he stuffed another brown cupcake into his mouth.

They were sitting around a table for two with a plate full of cupcakes between them. Marinette was looking at Chat and trying not to smile. There was frosting on his face.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "This is a pun-free zone. And you're not allowed to eat them all," she grabbed one for herself.

"So, about yesterday..." Chat seemed like he remembered that he hadn't come here to eat. "Thanks for getting the people safely home. The police questioned them but they don't remember a lot."

"So no clues as to who Hawkmoth is?" Marinette sighed. They also wouldn't know how exactly everything happened. "Well, what matters is that the people got out."

"Yeah," Chat ate another cupcake. He seemed a little distracted.

Marinette leaned on her hand. "Did you get any answers as to how Hawkmoth was able to use the kindergarten? Or how they were fed?"

"Fred Haprèle told us that they had been getting anonymous boxes that were placed in the storage we saw. The workers had thought they were just filled with toys, and they already had too many of those, but..."

"That's sick," Marinette suddenly felt ill. How were they even able to breathe?

"Apparently some of the packages also had food."

Marinette nodded. She didn't say anything for a little bit, and neither did Chat.

"Also, Marinette... About the akuma," Chat left the cupcakes alone for once. "We didn't know a person could fight them with their mind, and purify them like that..."

"New information for all of us," Marinette gave a weak smile.

"Frankly, I don't think Sabrina could've done it alone. You really helped her get through it. Thanks," Chat said. He looked very sincere. "All we do is fight, and you thought of a completely different way to handle things. It was amazing."

A hot feeling spread on Marinette's face. She knew she was blushing. "Ehe... Well, the problem is that you're never around when someone gets akumatized."

When Chat playfully glared at her for pushing the admiration away, she continued. "It was mostly Sabrina. But I did do my best to help. So thanks," she nervously played with a cupcake.

Chat snorted. "Getting better, but you're still too modest. You're just so..." Chat smiled in a way that made Marinette blush even more. Why? She didn't know. "I don't even know. You do your best even if you feel unsure. It's miraculous. You're miraculous."

"Woah, kitty..." Marinette leaned back. She felt like she didn't have enough air. "You're really taking your promise seriously, huh?" She still remembered what Chat had said in the park a few days back. She hadn't actually thought Chat would drown her in compliments.

"What promise?"

Marinette dropped her cupcake. Did Chat really not remember? Was he saying all this just because? "I... uh... It's nothing. Thank you."

"There's still more I want to talk to you about," Chat said and picked up the fallen pastry. His expression changed, Marinette saw his smile leave his face.

"Go on," she said, a little worried of what was to come.

"I never apologized for calling your crush silly. I'm really sorry." Chat frowned. "I was just pissed off about my own situation and tried to drag you into it. I shouldn't have."

"Apology accepted." Marinette was happy everything had been cleared between them.

"He's a lucky guy. A stupid guy for not asking you out yet, but a lucky guy." And there it was again. The genuine look in his eyes.

Chat stood up without a warning. "Thank you for the cupcakes and the good company, but I better go now. I need to catch Ladybug before she stops patrolling."

The plate on the table had lost most of its sweets. Marinette took it, knowing that this was the end of their eating session. "Catch Ladybug?"

Chat grinned sheepishly. "I'm gonna confess to her."

Marinette's jaw dropped. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go get her, tiger! I mean, kitty." She started pushing Chat out the door.

"I'm going, I'm going... I just wanted you to be the first to know." Chat was standing outside the bakery. Marinette only needed to close the door and this meeting would be over.

"Hey," she started. Their mission was over now, and there was no reason left for them to keep in touch. She forced the words out of her. "Are we going to see each other again?"

Chat's eyebrows rose. But he quickly pulled back his usual, playful look. "Why of course. Who else am I going to get royal cupcakes from?"

Marinette laughed out of relief and started to close the door. "Bye, Chat."

"Bye, Mari."

 _o - o - o - o - o_

The stars were out. As Chat Noir, Adrien had jumped over many of the rooftops of Paris before stopping on the most familiar one. He knew almost all of them, but this one in particular was close to his heart. It was their place.

And there he saw her. His lady. Watching over the streets of the city, making sure nothing was out of the ordinary.

His lady, whom he had fallen for over a year ago. When he had been inexperienced and lost, his lady had known exactly how to save the day.

His lady, whom he didn't know the identity of. Wearing the mask was a red-headed, strong young woman, but who was behind it? The same girl, he was sure.

"Hi," Adrien said. He watched as Ladybug turned around. In Adrien's eyes, she was brighter than the moon beside her.

"Hey, chaton. I thought I was patrolling today," she raised her eyebrows.

"You are. I just needed to tell you something," Adrien gulped. There had been a weird distance between them lately, but Adrien wanted to close it. He was ready to talk it out. If Marinette could do the things she was uncertain of, so could he.

Ladybug's odd expression made Adrien back away from the real subject. "I told Marinette about what we found out."

"That's good. Thanks, chaton," she smiled. Her smile was confident, as always.

"That's not why I came here, though," Adrien took a breath. He couldn't get nervous now. He had been able to flirt with ease before, but this was different. This was for real.

Ladybug looked like she was waiting for him to continue, so he did. "I feel like something's been off for a while now. Between us."

The atmosphere turned almost visibly uneasy. "I've noticed."

"Why? Have I done something? Why are you so distant?" Adrien moved closer to the spotted hero. She turned her gaze away.

"I'm truly sorry, Chat Noir. I can't tell you," Ladybug said. She looked like she really was sorry, but that only added to Adrien's despair.

"Aren't we supposed to be partners?" he whispered. Adrien wanted Ladybug to trust him the same way he trusted her.

"We are. It's just..."

"I'm in love with you!" he yelled. He didn't mean to let it out like that. He had planned to be more charming, more captivating. He had planned to get Ladybug's heart with his gentle words, but instead he just spat them out. But he couldn't get them back.

He waited for an answer.

He waited for her to go from pained to surprised. But she didn't.

"Yeah."

Adrien felt like he had been punched in the stomach. _'Yeah'?_

"What do you mean?" he asked calmly. Even though everything was a mess inside him right now.

Ladybug faced him directly. "I thought so. I'm sorry."

"So..." Adrien knew what was to come, but had to ask anyway. "How do you feel about me?"

Ladybug looked like she could burst into tears. That didn't happen. "I can't. You think I'm someone I'm not."

"Then who are you!?"

"I've been distant with you because I knew you thought of me in the wrong way. It wasn't the best way to handle the situation, I know. I just wish we could go back to how it was," Ladybug explained without answering the question.

"Who are you?" Adrien asked again. He hadn't pressed for an answer before, but he couldn't help himself anymore. Everything else was broken already.

Ladybug took a shaky breath. "I know I've been wanting to keep our identities secret, for safety reasons and other things, too..." She looked at her partner again. "But I think this is tearing us apart too much, and I can't let our partnership crumble."

"I'll go first, I'm - "

"No," Ladybug placed a finger on Adrien's lips. "That's not necessary."

"What?" Everything was so unclear.

"I'm not human."

Adrien laughed. He didn't know why. Nothing about this was funny. "Well, you're a superhero."

"No."

Everything turned red. Red was all Adrien could see, and red was all that surrounded Ladybug. Adrien had never actually seen someone transform before, he had always been the one transforming. It felt like the moment lasted for forever, but in reality it was only for a few seconds.

Ladybug wasn't the red-headed girl Adrien was used to seeing.

She was small.

And she was floating in the air.

"My name is Tikki. I'm a kwami."


	12. Chapter 12

Adrien needed to sit down. But he didn't do so. In fact, he didn't do anything. He just stood there and stared at the small creature.

Had Adrien really been crushing on a kwami for the past year? A red version of _Plagg_? Marinette said that love could never be silly, but Adrien felt like an absolute idiot.

He felt like smiling. He felt like crying. He felt like laughing. He felt like yelling. He felt so many emotions and nothing at all at the same time.

"I'm assuming you need an explanation," the creature who claimed to be Ladybug said. Her voice was higher now.

When Adrien didn't answer, she continued: "I've been doing the job of Ladybug almost since the very beginning."

"Why?" Adrien whispered. "Why are you Ladybug? If you're Ladybug, why isn't Plagg Chat Noir? This doesn't make any sense." Nothing made any sense anymore.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way. I was supposed to be just a normal kwami," Tikki sighed. "I was foolish."

"Foolish?" Like how Adrien felt right now.

"Chat, you know how Plagg needs to be recharged with cheese. That's how we work. The things we eat turn into energy, though only some things can get us recharged," Tikki explained.

"So?" Adrien didn't see the connection.

"Many, many years ago, there was a villain. A villain worse than Hawkmoth, someone who simply caused chaos," Tikki seemed like she didn't like talking about this. "The first and last traditional Ladybug was a beautiful girl. She had dark blue hair and bright eyes. She was full of good and a great hero, but the villain discovered her identity through the boy she loved. The villain took her miraculous when she was in her civilian form."

Adrien glanced at the moon. He didn't feel comfortable watching Tikki when she looked so sad.

"I noticed him. I catched the miraculous in my mouth before he could take off. But he grabbed me, and without thinking I swallowed the miraculous," the kwami paused.

There were cars below them, so it wasn't a silent night. Still, Adrien couldn't hear any sound other than the story Tikki was telling. The silence felt like a void.

"He got angry. I thought he would take it out on me, but instead - " Her voice cracked. "I lost her. It was my fault. If only I had realized on time... I could've! I should've..."

Adrien had never seen a kwami cry. He didn't see other people cry often in general. He said what first came to mind.

"Hey," Adrien let Tikki rest on his hand. She'd been through a lot. "It's okay. You did what you could."

"No. I could've done so much more," she said quietly.

"She would be proud of you. You've been saving people for, how long? Thousands of years? You've continued her job in the best way possible," Adrien revealed his thoughts.

"The energy of the miraculous is still inside me, so it couldn't be passed on anyway, but... She's the reason I'm doing this. Why I'll keep doing this. "

When Adrien thought about how long Tikki would have to fight crime, he must've made a face. Tikki at least seemed to notice something in his expression.

"Don't worry, Chat Noir." She smiled through her tears. "I'm content with my destiny."

"I'm sorry for making things complicated. Sorry for making you talk about this," Adrien said. This wasn't the way he'd thought his confession would go. But there was nothing anyone could do about it. He felt numb.

"Don't be. I'm sorry for letting things come to this point. I hope our partnership can grow even stronger, now." The kwami looked apologetic, but Adrien didn't think she'd done anything wrong.

"I'm sure of it, partner."

 _o - o - o - o - o_

Adrien had put on a brave face in front of Ladybug. In front of Tikki. But now that he was alone again and running on top of roofs, he couldn't keep his feelings hidden.

Embarrassment filled him up. Now he knew that the reason he had admired Ladybug so much and why she had been so effortlessly cool and smart, was because she actually had more than a couple of years of experience behind her.

How much time had he spent over agonizing about his love? Too much. He'd never stopped to think about how Ladybug felt. You'd think he could've taken the hint after all the subtle pushing away she had done! Now he just bothered a kwami who had other stuff to think about. An immortal being. It had been so stupid to fall for her. For the image of her.

 _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._

He wanted to be angry at something, but he couldn't be mad at Tikki. The only person he could blame was himself.

He really needed to use his Cataclysm on something. Anything.

The first thing he saw was a street lamp. That would do. He jumped on top of it.

"Cataclysm!"

The street lamp turned black and cold and Adrien felt a little better. Just a little.

But then he realized that he couldn't be Chat Noir after using his Cataclysm. He sighed at how thoughtless he continued to be.

He didn't want to go home. He never found any comfort there. Nino would want to cheer him up, but Adrien knew that he was gone for the weekend. It probably wouldn't be the best idea for a teenage boy to wander around the city all by himself.

Plagg was keeping quiet for whatever reason. Adrien didn't want to talk to him right now either, since he'd known how much of a dumbass Adrien had been this whole time. Had Plagg been laughing at him behind his back? Adrien didn't want to find out.

Before he knew it, Adrien found himself at the door of a familiar bakery. Without his mask. It hadn't been that long when he'd walked out the door he was now nervously looking at.

It was one thing to see Marinette as Chat Noir, his relaxed and silly self, who had built a pretty nice friendship with her during these few days, and another thing to show up in the middle of the night as Adrien, a heart-broken, boring model.

They'd known each other for a year, but Adrien still couldn't seem to have a normal conversation with Marinette as his civilian form. He blamed himself. Having been homeschooled for most of his life, his social skills were probably pretty lacking. He still considered Marinette his friend, though.

He was a little jealous at his superhero alter ego. _Jealous at myself? That makes sense._ He did consider himself to be Chat Noir, but sometimes he felt like he was giving himself too much credit. He wasn't a brave superhero all the time, he was still an awkward kid who watched anime in his room on Friday nights. Still, he felt like he could let himself loose as Chat.

Before he knew it, he'd sent a text to Marinette. Adrien stared at the message on his civilian form's phone screen. He felt like running away, but it was too late now.

Marinette would be too kind to turn him away, but nothing was stopping her from being really weirded out. Would this odd visit totally ruin things between them? Adrien was getting a headache from all of this. But he did want to see her. Marinette had really been there for him, even if she didn't know it.

His storm of thoughts and self-pity were interrupted when the door opened. A surprised-looking Marinette with tangled hair had her hand on the doorknob. Her eyes were glimmering in the light of street lamps. Ones that Adrien hadn't broken.

Maybe everything would be okay. Maybe Adrien could even make himself a little more likable if he tried. Okay, good plan! Wait, had he been supposed to say something? Marinette was still looking at him. _Oh, fuck._

"Adrien?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry for the delay, my motivation has been slipping. But I'm not giving up! I got a little sad writing this chapter (because of Tikki and Adrien and aaa), but it was still kind of fun.**

 **Thank you for your support and next chapter we'll be back to Marinette's perspective! :) See ya~**


	13. Chapter 13

Adrien Agreste was outside their bakery. In the middle of the night.

Marinette blinked her eyes twice, waiting for him to disappear. But he didn't.

"I'm so sorry for bothering you at this time of the night," Adrien wasn't facing Marinette. "I'm so stupid, I should just go - " he blabbered.

"C-come in!" Marinette blurted. Had that sounded like an order? Despite the clumsy delivery of the words, Adrien walked in.

You can imagine Marinette's confusion when she had read the text message from Adrien, asking her to come outside. Marinette had thought he'd texted the wrong number, but of course she checked anyway. He had also used an old school smiley face, which was very cute. Super cute. _Anyway_ , she hadn't actually expected to see him.

Yet, here they were. Standing in silence in the middle of chairs and tables. Marinette wasn't sure if she should break down the news that they weren't actually open and there were no fresh croissants, but then Adrien cleared his throat.

"Thanks for letting me in," he said.

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "Of course I let you in! W-what else would I have done, shut the door on you? I would never do that."

Adrien smiled a little. "I know you wouldn't."

His smile left as quicly as it had arrived. Recovering from the shock seeing him had caused, Marinette felt like something was off. Not just that he was here. She looked at Adrien. _Really_ looked at him. His shoulders were clunched and his arms were crossed, as if he was trying to be so small the world wouldn't notice him. His eyes were a little red and refused to look at anything other than the ground.

Marinette was embarrassed she hadn't realized right away. "Adrien... What's wrong?"

Adrien finally looked at her, only briefly. "Nothing. No. Wait. I'm just..." He sighed.

"Let's go stairsup. Upstairs. I have something I want to show you."

 _o - o - o - o - o_

"Just a second," Marinette looked through her chest of drawers.

She clenched her teeth thinking about how she'd brought Adrien to the mess she called her room. Her designing stuff was all over the place. There hadn't even been a free chair for him to sit on until a moment ago.

Adrien didn't seem to mind, though. He was sitting patiently. Marinette felt thorns inside her stomach as she was thinking about how sad Adrien looked. She had gotten a dumb idea. It was pretty stupid, but Marinette was willing to try it if it had the possibility of making Adrien feel a little better. And he didn't seem ready to talk, so Marinette had to do something.

"Found it!" She turned around holding two dolls. Small versions of the superheroes of Paris.

Adrien looked at her with a blank expression and Marinette felt her plan crumble. Her cheeks were burning.

"S-so, I know you're a fan of Ladybug, and the girl I babysit also likes her, so I was thinking you might've found these dolls funny..." Marinette felt herself enter panic mode. That was never a good thing.

She jumped on her bed and lifted the Chat Noir doll up. "Heyyy, m'lady. It's a _purr_ fect day, isn't it?" Marinette imitated her friend with great effort.

"Let's focus on saving Paris, chaton," Marinette made her voice higher to seem like Ladybug.

"Okay, okay. We'll do a _meow_ -some job!" she said. She worried she might've made Chat Noir sound like a gang member with such a low voice.

Marinette glanced at Adrien, realizing how insane she must look right now. She thought she saw sadness cross Adrien's eyes and she wanted to jump into a black hole. Then she noticed that Adrien was shaking a little.

Apparently, it was from holding in laughter. Because Adrien started laughing louder than Marinette had ever heard him laugh, granted they didn't have a lot of normal conversations. If you could call this normal.

"Oh my God, Mari," he tried to breath. "You have a Chat Noir doll? That's so cu - I mean, great."

"I totally made a fool out of myself just now, didn't I..." Marinette tried to laugh it off.

"A little, yes! I've never had anyone go to the lenghts of a personal puppet show for me, so I'm enjoying this," Adrien smiled with his full face and it made Marinette feel like dancing.

"W-well, I'm glad," she got herself a chair next to Adrien. She gave the Ladybug doll to him and kept the Chat Noir doll to herself.

"And I appreciate the attempt, but Chat Noir's puns are a lot cooler." Adrien grinned. His eyes were still a little red.

"Excuse me? My imitation gave him _extra_ credit," Marinette snorted in amusement.

"Whatever you say," Adrien chuckled. Marinette saw him look down at the Ladybug doll, and his expression changed.

"A-adrien... I..." Marinette mentally slapped herself. Even if she was nervous, this wasn't the time to stutter. This was serious. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Adrien looked at her. It was like he was thinking about what to say. "It's just... There's a lot going on in my life right now."

Marinette waited for him to continue.

"You know how my dad is really strict and all," Adrien said causing Marinette to nod. "He wasn't always like that."

The room felt colder.

"Ever since my mom disappeared... He just got distant. It's like he doesn't even care," Adrien let his head fall into his palms. "I don't know what to do."

Marinette found herself hugging Adrien. Something she never would've imagined doing before tonight. "It's gonna be okay."

"How can you say that? How do you know?" Adrien asked with a bitter voice, but didn't push Marinette away.

The surprised girl hadn't heard such a tone coming from Adrien before. Still, she kept hugging him. "Because - "

"It's probably my fault anyway. I always mess everything up," his voice cracked.

Now Marinette pulled away just enough to search for his eyes. "That's not true. Don't say that."

"I just don't get it. I don't get what I've done wrong. I want to be better, but I just don't understand!" Their eyes met. Marinette looked straight at Adrien.

"Adrien, listen to me. Your dad couldn't wish for a better son. You're one of the most awesome people I know."

"You're wrong, Mari." Adrien sighed. "I act like I'm someone who's got it all under control... But I'm not."

Marinette took a breath. "I k-know I'm a terrible friend and I suck at communication. But I want you to know that I've always been grateful for how you treat me, and how you treat everyone else. You're kind, considerate... You're perf - " Marinette stopped herself. "And you don't need to be perfect. You can just be you, and that's totally enough."

Adrien looked at Marinette in a way she didn't recognize. "You mean that?"

"Definitely. I'm glad to have you in my life." Marinette flashed a smile. She realized she didn't exactly know the imperfect Adrien. Maybe Chat Noir had been right. But she couldn't let herself think about that now.

"Ah, this is so embarrassing," Adrien cringed. "But I really needed this. Thanks, Mari. And you're a great friend."

Marinette grinned. "You won't like me as much after I beat you at _Ultimate Mecha Strike III_ ," she said as she carefully handed him a control. Marinette remembered hearing Adrien tell Nino that video games always cheered him up. That would've been nice to cross her mind before the puppet show.

"Trust me, you have no reason to worry." He laughed.

 _o - o - o - o - o_

"And I win again!" Marinette giggled. "Pay up."

"You know these are your gummy bears anyway?" Adrien handed her the jar.

"Shh, the details don't matter," Marinette threw a yellow piece of candy in her mouth. She couldn't believe how natural things were going. Some stuttering here and there, but she hadn't even fainted. Most importantly, Adrien seemed to truly feel better.

"What are those?" Marinette heard Adrien ask. She saw him looking at the finished date outfits designed to fit Chat and Ladybug. They were under black fabric.

"Oh, th-they're nothing," Marinette hurried to push the outfits further away from them.

Adrien stood up aswell. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be nosey."

"You're not!" Marinette stopped. "They're just these outfits I made for - "

"For the Ladyblog?"

Marinette frowned. Though they had bigger meaning now, because they would be the clothes Marinette would compete against Chloe with. But this wasn't about her and Chloe, it was about Alix. Marinette couldn't be a coward anymore. "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess." Adrien shrugged and took a step closer to the clothes.

"I could've done a better job. Especially with the dress, I guess I could still add more layers..."

Adrien placed his hand on Marinette's. She could feel her heart beating in her throat. "Mari. You don't have to do this," he said. "You don't have to discredit yourself. It's okay to be proud."

His eyes were asking her if it was okay to lift off the black fabric, but before Adrien could do it, Marinette lifted it off herself.

The leather jacket for Chat Noir was the thing Marinette was the happiest with. It had the cool attitude Chat Noir was trying to achieve, though he was always more on the goofy side. Ladybug's black handbag was also pretty high quality. Shoes weren't her specialty, and they could've been better. Though Ladybug's dots were falsely placed, the masks turned out looking a lot like the originals.

"What... What do you think?" Marinette searched for approval. Even if this was about Alix, the clothes somehow felt personal to Marinette.

They both kept looking at the clothes. "What do _you_ think?"

Marinette gulped. She saw a lot of mistakes, yet... "I think I like them."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Ahh it's been so long since the latest update. But don't worry guys, I promise I won't leave my story on a "hiatus" :D**

 **So anybody remember that conflict in chapter 4? Well it's coming back xd I think there actually aren't that many chapters left, oh noo.**

 **As always, thanks for continuing to read my story even though I don't have a great schedule :D See you~!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** **If you don't remember anything about a challenge between Chloe and Marinette, I encourage you to read chapter 4 again. ;)  
**

* * *

Marinette woke up the same way she woke up every morning. On her bed, with her phone alarm blasting one of her favorite songs. Nothing felt out of the ordinary. But then the realization hit her.

She had spent the whole night hanging out with Adrien Agreste.

Was it a dream? But Marinette still had this bubbly, happy feeling inside her. It had to be real. She jumped out of bed, searching the room. Adrien was nowhere to be found, and Marinette was honestly a little relieved he didn't have to witness her bed hair.

There was a little note on her bedside table. She rolled her eyes at herself for not having noticed it right away.

 _Good morning, Marinette!_

 _Hope you slept well. Unfortunately, I had to leave while you were asleep, as I did not want my father to notice my disappearance._

 _also, next time i'll totally beat you at mecha strike. i was just going easy on you :p_

 _and you snore a little. don't worry, it's not that bad. princesses get a pass. you should hear me sleep, lol._

 _\- adrien_

Marinette giggled at how formal the note started and how sloppy it ended. It was like you could visibly see how Adrien remembered that he wasn't writing a work email. The ending of the note and the image of Adrien sleeping calmly made Marinette blush.

She blushed even more when she understood that she must've fallen asleep while playing video games. And she couldn't have walked to her bed by herself. And someone must've carried her.

 _Oh God._

 _o - o - o - o - o_

Embarrassed and flustered, she made her way to school. She had to push aside thoughts of Adrien and focus on the mission. Her personal mission.

The class hadn't started yet, so the students were hanging out in the halls. Marinette noticed Alya, Nino and Adrien by the blue lockers, talking and laughing. Marinette waved at them, but didn't join them. Alya raised an eyebrow at her and she nodded in a way she knew Alya could read.

Alix was doing homework on the floor. She was wearing yellow sneakers. Marinette remembered a time when Alix had mentioned the sneakers being too small. Marinette walked past her aswell, she would probably try to stop Marinette if she told her about what she was going to do.

"Chloe." Marinette stood with her arms folded. She made an effort to look as intimidating and confident as possible.

The tanned blonde turned around. Sabrina was right behind her, either backing her up or staying safe from the situation. Marinette wondered how she felt after the incident from the weekend. She had no clue what was going through Sabrina's head right now. Chloe was looking Marinette up and down with a mean grin on her face.

"I'm surprised you have the guts to come to school after you totally proved what a loser you are last Friday," Chloe laughed with that annoying voice of hers. "Are you going to whine some more about right and wrong?"

"No, I'm actually going to demonstrate," Marinette took a small and hopefully unnoticeable breath. She looked Chloe straight in the eye and kept her head up. "I accept your challenge."

By now, every student in the hall had turned to look at what was going down. There were only about ten students, but it felt like a thousand eyes were glued to Marinette and Chloe. Alix had also stood up.

"You don't have to do this, Marinette. Besides, I would never wear shoes paid by that brat," Alix said and nodded to Chloe's direction.

Marinette simply shook her head with a reassuring smile. It was about time Chloe faced some consequences for her actions.

"So, Dupain-Cheng. I assume you already have your terrible little post ready, as it took no skill whatsoever." Chloe played with her nails. "I didn't expect for you to actually accept, so I need to have my minion - no, I mean I have to make my post. By myself."

Marinette rolled her eyes. Of course Chloe would have someone else make her post. "Right. Do you think you can get it done by midnight? We can count the clicks at the end of the school day, tomorrow."

"Fine. The sooner Adrien will realize what a waste of space you are, the better."

Marinette could hear Adrien's steps, of course he'd want to stand up for her. But Marinette grabbed his hand and pulled him to the classroom just as the bell rang. "Great. I wish you the best of luck."

Chloe's face would have been worth seeing, but Marinette didn't look back.

 _o - o - o - o - o_

It was a nice café. But because of it being also quite expensive, Marinette and Alya had only been there for a few times. It was the place to go for special occasions, and Alya kept insisting this was one of those.

"Alya, come on. We don't even know who'll win." Marinette took a sip of her coffee. The café was almost full, it was a trendy place afterall. For a reason, too. It had beautiful mint green walls full of pictures and paintings. Marinette could spend hours just admiring them.

"I'm too hyped up to wait for celebration," Alya said while tearing away little parts of her chocolate chip cookie, so she could eat them piece by piece. She argued that this was the only way to enjoy a cookie. "And are you kidding me? We know you'll win."

"Let's not get too cocky," Marinette smiled. "But I am willing to admit I have a chance."

"Girl, I can't even describe how proud I was when you marched out with Adrien," Alya said with that twinkle in her eye she got whenever she talked about Ladybug. It only lasted for a few seconds, before her expression turned into another one. One that Marinette was also familiar with. "Speaking of Adrien..."

Some coffee got caught in Marinette's throat. But her coughing wasn't enough to distract Alya from what she was about to say.

"You two basically held hands!" Alya spoke loud enough for the entire café to hear. Marinette cringed and sank into her seat. "I need details. Now."

"It wasn't like that," Marinette started. They didn't _hold hands,_ Adrien just helped her make an impressive exit. "We're still just friends."

And that was true. But she felt like last night had changed something. Not romantically, but in a sense that they had maybe taken a few steps closer to each other.

It was normal for Alya to ask about Adrien. Marinette had always shared her boy trouble with her, and she had done the same. But something inside Marinette was telling her she couldn't talk about this with her. And it was weird. It was _super_ weird.

She needed to talk to Chat first.

Why did she feel like she needed to discuss her feelings with a guy she met a few days ago before her best friend? It made no sense, but she knew that's how it was. Chat had opened up about Ladybug to her, and she wanted to do the same. She had thought about a lot of things and Chat needed to be the first to know about them.

"You can't fool me," Alya held her face with both hands. "I know something happened between you and him."

"Look, Alya," Marinette said with a smile that was asking for forgiveness. "We'll talk about this some other time, just not right now. I promise I'll tell you everything."

Alya didn't look convinced, but Marinette knew she understood. They were best friends for a reason. "Okay, Mari. I'll let you process things, but I won't let you off the hook."

Marinette laughed. "Don't worry," she took a bite of her cheese cake. It was good, but nothing would compare to her parents' sweets. "But hey. We still have a few things to discuss about this whole challenge thing."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Hiya! Good to be back.**

 **I feel like this chapter was a little sloppy in terms of both language and pacing, but I wanted to get it done before I go on vacation. It's mostly a build-up chapter, but I hope you guys still enjoyed it. :) Friendship time between Alya and Mari, ayoo.**


	15. Chapter 15

Should she text him?

Marinette had typed out and erased the same message a dozen times now. But she still wasn't sure whether or not she should send it. After all, Chat Noir was a busy guy. And Marinette didn't want to seem clingy, contacting him so soon after parting ways. Wasn't there some rule about waiting three days? Ah, no, that was for dating.

 _Screw it._ She sent the message. Chat Noir wouldn't mind, they were friends. And even if he was saving Paris somewhere, it's not like they needed to see each other right away. Just as soon as possible.

Marinette noticed there was a typo in her carefully crafted text and buried her face in pillows. But she needed to agonize carefully, as there were many papers and books on her bed. She was working on a new pair of shoes and needed to do some research. Well, a lotof research.

Marinette glanced at her clock. The anticipation for the posts was filling her up. She still had no idea what Chloe was going to put out, or how she would handle creating something on such a short notice. It felt unfair that Marinette had had so much time to prepare the outfits, and it was weird that Chloe was going to create something in just one day.

Talking with Alya had been fun, but now Marinette was alone with all these thoughts again. She really needed some fresh air.

Marinette made her way outside and closed the front door carefully. It seemed like she had made a habit of doing things behind her parents' backs. Just as Marinette considered going back inside and letting her parents know where she was going, she saw something in the corner of her eye. Something familiar on the rooftops.

Before giving it much thought, Marinette already yelled out. "Chat Noir!"

The superhero crashed into Marinette's balcony and the girl felt bad about distracting him during a jump. Okay, she also thought it looked a little funny.

Marinette heard whispering behind her and realized how stupid it was to yell out Chat Noir's name in a busy part of Paris. Granted, it was dark out and not as many people were passing by their house as they would be during the day, but it had still been dumb. Marinette made eye contact with the pair of teenage girls looking at her and watched as they continued to whisper to each other.

"H-have you seen my cat?" Marinette blurted out. "It's called Chat Noir and it's black and, uhh, it can be really silly and cute - wait, not cute. I mean yes, why wouldn't I think my cat is cute? Anyway, it ran away yesterday..." Marinette cringed at her attempt at saving the situation and really hoped that the girls hadn't noticed the superhero's crash.

"Um. No, sorry," one of the girls said and the two looked at Marinette one last time before continuing walking.

Marinette let out a breath and checked to see if anyone was looking before walking to the back of her house. But she had totally lost sight of Chat and wondered if the crash had hurt him more than she had thought.

"Cute, huh?"

Marinette turned around to see Chat's face grinning at her. Marinette smiled at him but quickly took on a pokerface when she realized what he had just said.

"Shut up, I was describing an imaginary cat," she muttered without a better comeback. "And don't think I missed that crash," Marinette added despite knowing that the fall was her fault.

"Alright, I'll shut my cute face," Chat laughed. "We should probably get out of here, where were you about to go?"

"I don't know. I was really just going out for a walk."

Chat looked at his black staff and then looked back at Marinette. "Is it okay if we use this?"

Marinette nodded. She knew she wouldn't have to be afraid of heights if Chat was with her, even if she had just seen him fail a jump. They departed from the ground.

It wasn't really flying, Marinette knew it wasn't. But it felt like it.

Soaring through the skies and occasionally tumbling through the harsh material of the rooftops. Rooftops of people Marinette didn't know and didn't care to know. She wanted to see was how fast they could go, how cold the air could feel. Had the stars ever looked as bright as they did right now?

Marinette looked at Chat. She now understood why he liked patrolling so much. He was keeping his eyes on what was ahead of the two, but Marinette forgot to be amazed by the sights around them.

Only when they stopped moving did Marinette realize to look around them again. They were at the same park they had been to last week, on the day they first met. Marinette knew that the park wasn't far from her home and wondered if Chat had taken a longer route on purpose.

"People won't bother us here," Chat said and sat down on the bench in front of them. Marinette sat down next to him.

"I didn't think you'd come so seen after seeing my text," Marinette said and admired the moon that was peeking from behind the branches of the park's oldest tree. All leaves had fallen by now.

"A text?" Chat looked confused. "Sorry, I didn't take my fake phone with me today. Must've missed it."

"Oh," Marinette said. "Why'd you come to my house then?"

"I had something I wanted to talk to you about," Chat examined her. "Why'd you text me?"

"I needed to talk to you, too," Marinette turned her head to look at him properly. "Who goes first?"

Chat let out a reluctant breath and Marinette decided that she should give him some extra time. "Remember that guy I told you about? Well, something happened and I wanted to talk to you about it before anyone else, the same way you told me about Ladybug..."

"Wait," Chat said. "Before you go on, you should probably know that Ladybug rejected me."

The way Chat said the words so casually caught Marinette off-guard. She hadn't thought of this possibility, and felt stupid for not asking about the confession right away. She couldn't read Chat's expression but knew the pain he had to be going through.

"I'm so sorry, Chat..." Marinette said. He didn't look like he wanted a hug right now, so she just stayed where she was.

"It's fine," Chat showed a small smile. "It just wasn't meant to be. It wasn't a great move to fall for her in the first place, at least things will go back to normal now."

"How can you say that? How can you act so strong?" Marinette shook her head in disbelief. "Ladybug was insanely lucky to have a guy like you like her."

"Mari..." Chat turned away. "It's fine, really. I didn't even know her."

"I don't care!" Marinette gently grabbed his face and forced him to look at her again. "I won't let you think your feelings were uncalled for, that's not fair to you! It was a good thing you confessed, you were heard and that's what matters."

Chat didn't say anything for a second. Chuckling wasn't the reaction Marinette had expected. "Wow. Well, I'm glad to have my own personal cheerleader during times like this," He flashed a smile that looked far more genuine than it had been before. "For real, though. Thanks, Mari."

Marinette realized she was still holding his face and quickly let go. She awkwardly moved a little further away from him. This conversation had not gone the way she had imagined.

"You can still talk to me about your crush, you know. I'm actually really curious."

"Okay," Marinette said and tried to gather her thoughts. "Well, I'm thinking of confessing to him."

That came out a bit abruptly, and Chat seemed to notice. His face froze. "What?"

"Let me explain," Marinette hurried. "We had a talk, and I think I'm finally ready to actually get to know him. But I want there to be space for him to see me as a legitimate option, so I thought... Okay, saying this out loud I realize I sound a little selfish with all these secret motives..."

"No, that sounds like a good plan," Chat ruffled her hair. "Don't back down! I'm really happy for you, princess."

Marinette smiled. For some reason, Chat's encouraging words really did fill her with determination. The moment was broken when her phone rang.

It was her mom.

"Hi Mom," Marinette said and mentally facepalmed. Of course she couldn't keep sneaking around forever. "I know, sorry. Where am I? Uhh, _Le Parc du Poisson._ I'm sorry, mom. Okay."

Chat waited as she put her phone away. "My mom's going to be here in a few minutes," she said.

"Ah, okay." They both stood up.

They had gone over the things that they had wanted to talk about. But Marinette still felt as if there were things that had been left unsaid.

"Hey, Chat," she begun. She catched herself nervously pulling on her jacket. "Ladybug mentioned that there might be something bothering you. Is it true?"

Chat looked like he was taken aback by Marinette's question. He probably questioned why Ladybug and Marinette had talked about him when he wasn't around. "Don't worry about it, Mari. You've helped me out more than you know."

"Just remember that you can always come to me," Marinette said quietly.

They fell into silence. Sabine was most likely just around the corner. Marinette wondered when she and Chat would see each other again. Maybe she would report to him about Adrien. Maybe they would hang out like normal friends. Maybe this and maybe that.

The moment felt even more final than yesterday. How do you keep a friendship with a superhero alive? They couldn't play video games in her room like with Adrien, her parents would eventually see them. They couldn't go to cafés like with Alya, _everyone_ would see them. If the public found out that Chat Noir was hanging out with some random girl, there would be no end to the amount of questions and drama. It would affect the lives of Marinette herself, all her loved ones, Chat Noir _and_ Ladybug.

So what could they do? Nothing seemed like the right answer. Marinette tried to take in this moment and worry about the future later. She watched as Chat kept his eyes glued to the moon. The light made his blonde hair look almost white. She wondered if he was thinking of the same things as she was.

This time Marinette knew for sure it was selfishness that was filling her up. It wasn't kind to him, but she couldn't help it. Chat glanced at her and she couldn't keep the words inside her anymore.

"Who are you?"

It was such an unfair question and yet Marinette couldn't take it back. She just stood there while Chat's eyes widened.

"I'm Chat," he said. Marinette knew that he had understood her, but maybe he wished that she was joking.

"No, really. Who are you?" There was no going back.

"Stop, Marinette," he said with a pained look. "You know I can't do that."

Marinette sighed quietly. It had been too much. "You're right, I'm sorry. Please don't feel guilty, it wasn't a good question."

No more explanation was needed. They were both aware of the issue.

Marinette felt her phone buzz from a text. She knew there weren't any good parking spots right near the park so her mom must've found a spot further away. "I better go. You should, too."

"Good luck. With everything," Chat said but wouldn't move.

But Marinette did move. She wrapped her hands around her friend and pressed her head against his shoulder. It was a cold night but Chat's suit was even colder. That didn't matter, though. Marinette felt him play with her pigtails. They held on to each other for just a little longer.

"Someday," Chat said as he looked Marinette in the eye while already walking away.

Marinette nodded and smiled. That was a promise.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **So the interaction between Chat and Mari was supposed to be just a small part of this chapter, but whaddaya know, this is what happens when you're Marichat trash x) Would've felt wrong to ruin their moment with Chloe :D**

 **I really wanna finish this story by the end of this year, it's insane that I started it in January. Thanks for sticking around ^^**

 **I listened to A Whole New World while writing the part where they were running on the rooftops xd Always gotta listen to love songs during their scenes :D See you next chapter :)**


	16. Chapter 16

It was their last class. After ten or so minutes, they would see who wins the challenge.

Marinette was chewing on her pencil for what was not the first time during the day, and Alya had given up on trying to convince her to stop. She just shook her head in silence and kept playing with her phone. She wasn't allowed to look at the hits of the posts and Marinette knew it was driving her insane.

It was driving everyone insane, really. No statistics were visible on the site and nobody really knew who was winning. Marinette wasn't allowed to look at Chloe's post yet, but her classmates had told her that even though they wished for her to win, Chloe's post wasn't bad either.

Marinette had received a lot of compliments for her designs, so even though she was extremely nervous she was also in a really good mood. Nobody, besides Alya and Chat Noir, had known that the outfit posts that showed up every now and then were by Marinette. But now everyone who stumbled upon them would know. And Marinette was only somewhat embarrassed.

Adrien's sudden, quick movement caught Marinette's attention. He had dropped his rubber. Marinette smiled at how he was still taking notes even when nobody else was paying attention to class. She knew Adrien didn't take going to public school for granted.

Even though he was sitting right in front of her, the rubber hadn't landed close enough to her seat that it would be normal for her to pick it up. When Adrien leaned down to pick it up, he glanced to her side. Marinette's eyes met his and he flashed her a smile before turning away. Marinette felt her cheeks get warm as she realized she probably looked like a beaver with that damn pencil in her mouth.

The bell rang.

"You ready?" Alya turned to look at Marinette. She had a familiar fire in her eyes.

"Ready," Marinette said. She stood up and took her bag that had been packed up for a while already. She turned to look at Chloe, still sitting in her place.

"Running away, Dupain-Cheng?" she asked. Sabrina was sitting next to her. Marinette had tried to talk to her about how she was doing several times, but she always either ignored her or just left the spot. Marinette was confused as to why she was still with Chloe.

"I don't think Mrs. Mardi would like us to stay in her classroom," Marinette said. She had thought they would go outside.

"I'm sure she doesn't mind," Chloe said and gave their teacher a look that was obviously messaging her to leave. "We're just having a study group meeting, after all."

The teacher nodded and left the room. Marinette sighed at Chloe's influence, but it honestly didn't matter where they handled this.

The whole class had stayed inside. Everybody wanted to see whether Chloe would have to face consequences for her bullying or not. Or would she even keep her promise if she lost?

"Okay," Marinette started. She thought she should inform the outsiders. "So now that the posts have been up for 16 hours, we'll check which one has the most likes, comments and hits per device, all combined. Spam comments don't count." The criteria for victory was honestly a little threatening. Marinette had never been all that good at attracting attention. "Alya, go ahead."

"Alya?" Chloe asked loudly. "Alya isn't a neutral judge, she'd totally lie about the results. We need someone fair! I vote for Adrien."

Alya would never lie, but she still handed the phone to Adrien. They all knew that there was some sense in Chloe's statement, no matter how viciously it was put. Adrien looked at the phone in confusion. "I'm not neutral."

"Aw, that's so sweet," Chloe said. "Now check the results, Adrikins."

Adrien rolled her eyes but silently did his job. Alya squeezed Marinette's hand. Alix stopped leaning on a wall and stepped closer. Everyone watched as Adrien did the math.

Marinette felt her familiar quick heartbeats of nervousness. She had done her best for the post, but she still wasn't sure if that was enough. It would have to be.

Adrien's mouth dropped just enough for Marinette to notice it. Her heart dropped along with it. He looked at Marinette with an apologizing face. "The winner is Chloe."

Chloe was the only one who looked happy. "Haha! I knew it. Well, I hope everyone realizes what a waste of space Marinette is now. I made a post in one day and it defeated hers with ease. What does that say about her?"

Looking around everyone in the room, Marinette knew her classmates were uncomfortable. They really had wanted her to win, but she didn't. She glanced at Alix, who was clearly trying to hide her disappointment.

Marinette heard Alya and Adrien defend her, but she couldn't bring herself to listen. She let everyone down. She had proved that Chloe was better than her. She had tried to be confident and brave, but maybe it had been arrogant to think she'd had a chance.

A memory from the weekend crossed her mind. Would she have been of any use on their mission if she had started moping around when she felt bad about herself? No. This wasn't okay. She couldn't revert back to some shell just because she failed. If she did that, she'd never do anything.

 _Focus._ "Fine, Chloe. You won. But it's just not right that you get to destroy Alix's sneakers without any consequences. Or that you get to be a bully in general."

Everyone turned to look at Marinette. "Awh, it's not right? A lot of stuff in this world isn't right, naive little Dupain-Cheng. I'm going to keep on doing whatever I want and there's nothing you can do. Destroying sneakers is just the beginning."

"It's not fair. How come no adults care about what you're doing?" Marinette raised her voice.

"Pretty sure we all already know that I'm quite powerful. Doesn't matter what you guys say. You have no proof," Chloe said.

To Chloe's surprise, Marinette smiled. "Did you catch all that, Nino?"

"Yep!" Nino stepped away from the corner of the room with his phone and raised his thumb. "I'm sure Chloe can agree that the school can't ignore solid proof."

Chloe looked from Marinette to Nino. There were chuckles around the classroom. "What the hell?"

"The rules of the challenge didn't say that your win would let you get off the hook, just that if I won you would have to confess. Glad you did it anyway, though," Marinette said. She moved to give Alix a high-five.

Alya kissed Nino on the cheek. Marinette was glad that they had made a back-up plan. Though it hadn't been arrogant of her to think she had a chance, it would've been arrogant if she hadn't thought of many options.

The class was in high spirits and nobody was quick enough to react when Chloe sprinted towards Nino and snatched his phone.

"Whoopsie. Guess I have your evidence now."

Juleka blocked the door before Chloe could run out, so the blonde carefully returned to her seat. "I suggest Nino tells me the password now, or else I'll just crush his phone."

Nino didn't say anything. Everyone's eyes were glued to Chloe and the phone.

Until suddenly the phone wasn't in her hands anymore. Sabrina had been sitting in her seat quietly the whole time, but now she was standing with Nino's phone in her tight grip.

"Just shut up, Chloe," Sabrina said. Instead of walking back to Nino, she stood firmly where she was and faced Chloe.

"What are you doing, Sabrina?" Chloe looked more betrayed than upset.

"I'm really sick of you always thinking you own the world. I know I've accepted everything before, but I just can't keep doing this," Sabrina declared with a shaky voice.

"Doing what? You never do anything. You're nothing without me," Chloe said in a voice that was mean, for sure. But it didn't sound as determined as usually.

"I will be," Sabrina said. "And I'll start by doing this," she threw the phone to Nino, who catched it. "We'll both be in trouble for this mess. And they'll probably message our parents. _All_ of them. But after we take some time off, I hope we'll be friends again."

Marinette didn't know the reason behind the empathetic look Sabrina was giving Chloe, but it seemed to leave her silent. Chloe stood still before running to the door. Juleka made way for her and she pushed the door open. "Whatever!"

The room's tension left with Chloe. Everyone cheered together for what had been accomplished.

"Who wants to go get some pizza?" Kim yelled out. The cheers got louder.

Alya looked at her phone and many expressions went through her face.

"What is it?" Marinette asked.

"Nothing," Alya said. "It's just a notification that Ladybug was spotted near here, patrolling probably."

Marinette smiled at her best friend. "You wanna go, right? Don't worry, we won't mind."

"Go? And miss celebrating how badass you and the others were?" Alya shook her head with a laugh. "Who do you think I am?"

Alya was about to put her phone back into her pocket when Marinette stopped her. "What was Chloe's post about, by the way?"

"Oh, right," Alya said and opened her site. "It had some cute stuff of Chat Noir and a black cat."

Marinette scrolled the screen and laughed at pictures of Chat Noir petting and feeding the same cat that she had seen last week. Both cats looked very happy with each other. Marinette was glad that the photographer had got secret shots of this instead of their meeting. "Okay, I think I understand why I lost."

Adrien was suddenly very interested in the phone aswell. He didn't say anything, he just seemed to turn a little red and walked away with the others. Maybe he liked cats, too.

Marinette and Alya started to leave the room when Marinette noticed that one student was still packing up her stuff. Their eyes met, and she looked as if she was searching for acceptence.

"You coming with us, Sabrina?" Marinette smiled and she and Alya waited for her to pack up.

"Ah. S-sure. Let's go."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **One more chapter to go! ;)**


	17. Finale

The employees of the pizza place didn't look happy to have a pack of teenagers take up all the seats of their restaurant. That didn't stop the class from laughing loudly and being, well, a pack of teenagers.

Marinette was laughing along with everyone. Maybe a little more on the quiet side, but still. She was happy that her parents hadn't grounded her after all her sneaking around, and she'd survived with just a serious talk. The class hadn't hung out together for a long time, but Marinette hoped that this day might mark the start of a new type of class atmosphere.

They had gone through many different conversation topics, but some people kept bringing the challenge back up. Some people meaning mostly Alya. "Didn't Chloe's victory include for you to stop bugging her, Mari?" she laughed.

"I mean, I can't _bug_ her anyway since I'm not a bug," Marinette cracked a smile. She felt a bit silly referencing Chat Noir, knowing nobody would get it.

Adrien's soda fell over, but luckily there wasn't much of it left anyway. He hadn't bought anything else but that one soda. Rose immediately went and got him more paper than was really needed. Marinette wondered when he had gotten so clumsy.

"Uh, sorry guys," he said while finishing up cleaning the table. He glanced at his clock before standing up. "This was really fun, but I have to go home now. See you tomorrow!"

He would be the first to leave. Many people said their disappointed goodbyes to Adrien as he tried to make his way to the door. It was difficult because the students had pushed a lot of tables as near together as possible.

Marinette didn't want him to go yet. Now that she had discussed her feelings with Chat Noir, her need to talk to Adrien had only grown stronger. She shared a quick look with Alya and before she knew it, she was standing up aswell. "Adrien, wait up!"

But he had already stepped through the door. Marinette hastily muttered her goodbyes to everyone and ran after him. The whole class was giving her teasing looks but she didn't have time to try and convince them that it wasn't like that. And that would've been dishonest anyway.

The light of the setting sun hit Marinette's eyes the moment she got outside. She yelled out Adrien's name again and watched as he turned around.

"Marinette?" He looked confused, and Marinette questioned if it had been a good idea to follow him after all.

"Hello," Marinette said and cringed at herself. They had already greeted each other. "Do you have a second?" she asked. She didn't want to cause him trouble if he was in a hurry.

"Yeah, my ride's not actually here yet. I just wanted to be early." He walked towards Marinette. "So, what's up?"

Great question. "Well, um..." Marinette searched for the right words. Was she really going to do this? It felt a bit ridiculous. But she was in a good mood today, and the sky looked perfect right now. Suddenly the feelings she'd been keeping inside of her for a year were trying to come out, all at once.

When Marinette didn't say anything, Adrien cleared his throat. "I thought it was really cool what you did today. I mean, I thought you were really cool before this aswell."

Marinette made an effort not to turn away. The light coming from behind him made his hair look almost golden. "I think you're really cool, too."

Adrien didn't answer to that. They just looked at each other until it was Marinette who cleared her throat. She clenched her hands into fists in a desperate attempt to get more power for what she was about to say. But she still wasn't sure about just how she was going to say it.

"I want to know you, Adrien," she blurted out. Had it been too direct? It was the truth, at least. "A-and not as Adrien Agreste, the model. Just as you, whoever that is," she explained.

"Mari..." Adrien started. He smiled in a way that looked more sad than happy. "That's nice of you, but I'm not really worth all that."

"And why not?" Marinette took a step forward. She had no tolerance for these types of conversations anymore.

"I'm a pretty simple guy," he sighed. "I make lame jokes, spend way too much time watching cartoons, and I have a bad habit of sneaking out of the house at night instead of sleeping," he took one more step closer to Marinette. "I can be really petty and hypocritical. And even though I'm basically bashing myself right now, I'm also super arrogant."

Marinette gave into a wide smile that was forcing its way to her face. "Was that supposed to scare me off? Because you honestly sound pretty okay."

"Okay?" Adrien let out a laugh. "Wow, I've never heard a compliment better than that."

"Would you prefer the word _passable_?" Marinette crossed her arms and made sure to keep her head up.

Adrien didn't use a come-back, but didn't seem to back away either. "Let's go watch a movie this weekend."

Marinette's smile dropped and a dumb-founded look replaced it. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me. You wanted to get to know me, right?" He smirked and glanced behind himself. A gray car had arrived. "I'll text you the details. Bye, Mari."

As stunned as Marinette was, she couldn't let Adrien go just yet. Adrien was opening the door to the car when Marinette made one more declaration.

"I like you!"

Adrien looked the most taken aback Marinette had ever seen him. He stared at Marinette with an expression that was anything but relaxed. "What?"

"I like you, Adrien! Like, a lot. And not just as a friend," Marinette laughed. A thousand bricks were lifted off her chest. She had finally said it.

Adrien's face was red. _Very_ red. "Me? I-I'm the guy? I thought..." he muttered a lot of things but Marinette just happily stared at what a cute, bumbling mess he was. "Mari, that makes me happy, _insanely_ happy, but I recently got my heart broken by this one girl, and uhh..."

"Don't worry about it!" Marinette put her left thumb up. "I'm not expecting anything. I'll say it again someday." Once she would know the true him, and could mean the words in a new way. Right now she was content with how things were going.

Adrien looked relieved. And still red. He was about to get into the car, but it seemed like he still had something to say. "I'm actually going to eat dinner with my dad tonight."

From the way he said it, it would've been easy for anyone to tell that it meant a lot to him. "I'm so glad to hear that."

"We talked. About getting a cat, and other stuff. You know." Adrien flashed one more smile, waved and got into the car.

Marinette watched as the car pulled to the driveway. When it was gone, she let herself lean against the wall and have a breath. She stayed there until the sun was completely gone.

 _o - o - o - o - o_

Marinette had always known that shoes were hard to make. And yet it still surprised her how frustrated she got.

Since Alix was too proud to let Chloe buy her new shoes, Marinette had offered to make a pair for her. But making shoes as a gift for a friend only placed more pressure on her to succeed. Even after all the research she'd done she still couldn't seem to get it right.

Still, she did need the practice. But just a small break couldn't hurt.

Marinette glanced at her clock. She knew she would have to fix her sleeping schedule at some point, but at the same time she was a hardcore believer in the fact that sleep was for the weak. She decided to cool out on the balcony for a bit, not bothering to put on a jacket. Her pajamas would be fine.

It wasn't the best of nights. Gray clouds were covering most of the sky, blocking any stars from Marinette's view. Traffic was very apparent.

But it was all kind of calming. The lights from the cars and curtained windows made for an interesting sight. And Marinette was high enough from the ground so that the traffic was more like background noise.

 _What a day._ Marinette's thoughts reverted back to what Adrien had said. There was another girl. She had been speculating it for a year, but when she finally got it confirmed, she wasn't all that crushed.

It did sting a little, but not enough to make her stop trying. Even after all that pining after him, Marinette felt as if she had not been giving the two of them a chance. Always thinking she wasn't good enough for anyone.

But she was ready to let herself have a shot. Marinette blushed thinking about how they were going to see each other soon. She would need to start making _hersef_ a date outfit. Wait, no, it wasn't a date.

Marinette continued daydreaming and didn't notice that someone was standing on the roof until she heard a knock on the metal.

Her immediate thought was of Chat Noir, but when she turned around she quickly realized that it was a completely different silhouette.

The red superhero's color was dullened by the darkness, but she looked just as majestic as usually. Her flowy hair and firm stance were easy to recognize.

"Marinette," Ladybug said. She stepped down from the roof and was now standing on the same balcony as Marinette.

"L-Ladybug!" Marinette jumped back. She wanted to act cool, but she probably already blew it. "Hi. Uhh, good to see you?"

"It's nice to see you, too." Ladybug smiled a little. "I apologize for my surprise visit, but I saw the light from your window and thought this was a good chance to talk to you."

"Talk to me?" Marinette pointed at herself in confusion. She regretted her outfit choice. "About what?"

"About how I haven't been fair to you," Ladybug said as she sat on the balcony railing. She sighed before continuing. "Last Saturday, and in general."

Marinette considered sitting down with her, but concluded that it wasn't very safe. She decided to lean on the railing instead. "What do you mean?"

"It was out of line for me to ask you to be Chat Noir's friend. I know chaton wouldn't want me to meddle in his relationships," Ladybug said and pushed some of her hair behind her ears. She looked at Marinette, who could never be sure whether the superhero's eyes were blue or purple.

"Ah." Marinette had forgotten about Ladybug's request. "Don't worry about it. I understand that you did it out of care for him." Even though she had rejected him, Marinette was sure that Ladybug never had ill intentions when it came to Chat.

Ladybug nodded slowly. "Also," she started. Marinette wondered what else there could be for them to talk about. "You remind me of a girl I used to know. And I feel like I have been judging you based off of her, which I shouldn't have. You're your own person and you're great for different reasons."

Marinette blinked. She really had not been prepared for this type of talk. "Thank you."

Ladybug looked up at the gray sky. She seemed to be lost in thought. Marinette stayed quiet with her.

"Oh!" Ladybug turned back to Marinette. "And I really liked that post you made. The dress was lovely."

"You saw that?" Marinette could feel herself blushing. She hadn't expected to get feedback from Ladybug herself.

"Of course! I always read the blog." Ladybug smiled a bright smile. "Man, today's technology is amazing."

Her smile was contagious. "Hey, Ladybug." Marinette thought of what a great hero Ladybug was. She wasn't just skilled, she was also very kind. "I'm really glad Paris has you."

Ladybug just looked at Marinette. Her smile seemed to get wider, if that was possible at that point. Marinette thought that even the most confident people needed to hear compliments every once in a while, and wished that she didn't seem weird. "Thank you. I'm glad to be here," the hero said.

After some silence, Ladybug let out a breath. "I should probably get going," she said and got up on the balcony railing. Her balance didn't let her down. Literally. "With the new information we have on akumas, I'm fairly certain things will change. If we ever get any complicated cases in the future, I'll be sure to give you a call. I think you'd make a great superhero."

Marinette laughed. "Thanks, but I think we're fine with just you and Chat."

"Whatever you say." Ladybug took out her yo-yo. "I really do believe that you're a good person. I hope you know your value."

With that, Ladybug jumped off. She quickly disappeared out of sight.

Marinette was left alone on the balcony. The cold air was starting to get to her, but that was fine. Her pigtails probably looked messy, and all in all it would've been smart to go back inside. But still, the moment was nice.

She smiled to herself.

"I think I do."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **So that's it!**

 **Thank you very much if you've made it this far! I can't believe I actually finished it. I feel tempted to go back and edit the heck out of my previous chapters, but I like seeing my writing improve through the story so I don't think I will.**

 **I have a lot that I feel like saying but I think I'll just let the chapter speak for itself. This has been a fun ride. :)**


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